The formations must be perfect, as must the short solos. The corps has to be on their game, synchronized, musical, athletic and graceful, quick and precise. Balanchine preferred that the corps dancers got to DANCE, not just frame the principal dancers. The Nutcracker is a grueling performance for many corps dancers, many of which perform in almost every single show. The snow scene is a favorite of mine, partly because the music by Tchaikovsky is amazing, and partly because it’s a good example of Balanchine’s corps choreography. Snow The prominent Christmas star that appears at the end of Act I of Pacific Northwest Ballet’s production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® is presented by renowned artist Dale Chihuly. Ian Falconer, the set and costume designer, has exceeded expectations over and over again in the first act alone.
The room of the party expands before the audience’s eyes, and then vanishes into a quietly snowy forest seamlessly. The sets in the Battle and the Snow scenes are simply incredible. The scene has changed, and the two children are now in a snowy forest, where ballerinas represent the snowflakes that swirl and flurry in complex formations. The Nutcracker is revealed to have been a young prince, played by Jack Kaspar. Clara takes off her shoe and throws it at the King, allowing the Nutcracker to defeat the Rat and end the battle. Together they defend Clara from the mouse army, which is led by a Rat King with seven heads, each adorned with a crown. Fritz’s toy soldiers come to life (played by more children from the PNB School), as does her nutcracker, played by a suspiciously familiar dancer. Clara is now as big as her nutcracker, and the mice are coming for her.
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Suddenly, huge mice bounce across the stage, the Christmas tree begins to grow, the windows begin to stretch. Battle Eek – A mischief of mice! Photo © Angela Sterling She returns to the main room later that night to recover her beloved nutcracker, and she falls asleep on the couch. After the party is over, Clara and Nathaniel have to part ways, and Clara is sent to bed. Clara is immediately besotted-the rather ugly doll has stolen her heart. The children in the cast are allowed to take center stage without extremely technical dancing Balanchine made the party scene formation heavy so the children could carry attention without the decades of practice that the adult ballet dancers had.ĭrosselmeyer brings several life-sized dolls that dance for the party, but even that isn’t as exciting as the nutcracker he produces. Drosselmeyer was performed by Seth Orza, pulling gasps and laughs from the audience without coming across as campy or false. The students were wonderful at both silent acting and mime, as well as dancing. On opening night, Clara was Zoe Alvarado, a student at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School, just like Jack Kaspar, who played Nathaniel. Clara’s chaotic-neutral godfather Drosselmeyer arrives with his nephew Nathaniel, who Clara develops a bit of a crush on. During the party, guests and their children all dance and celebrate. The silver screen goes up, and we are introduced to Clara Stahlbaum, a young girl asleep in the foyer. This version of the ballet starts with Tchaikovsky’s “Petite Overture” and a film depicting a travel through snowy pine trees and little villages, ending just inside the foyer of the Stahlbaum house as the inside is being carefully decorated for a Christmas party. With an enormous cast, impossible sets, dazzling costumes, and a flawless orchestra, PNB has managed to build as close to a perfect production as I could imagine. However, Pacific Northwest Ballet’s production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker is of extraordinarily high quality, and the magic is heightened by the depth of the performance.
There’s just something to it that feels like gentle warmth from a fireplace, or a soothing mug of tea. The Nutcracker has a certain magic to it no matter how impressive the production and no matter what the quality of the dancers or musicians is.
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