American Ballet Theatre Returns to ‘The Nutcracker’ With Charm, Magic

It may have been the thrill of performing live again. Or the audience’s delight at attending live performances again, albeit armed with masks. The return of American Ballet Theatre (ABT) and “The Nutcracker” to Southern California last weekend brought new charm, humor and stellar dancing to the magical holiday tale.

“The Nutcracker” is the tale of a young girl dreaming that her Christmas present, a Nutcracker doll, comes to lifeand joins the toy soldiers in a battle with mice. Clara Stahlbaum and the now boy journey together through snow to a magical land of twirling flowers, exotic entertainment and the Sugar Plum Fairy (or Princess, depending on the presentation) and her swain.

An Evolving Classic

Since the ballet and Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky music debuted in 1892, “The Nutcracker” has been a holiday tradition in many parts of the world. While Clara dreams about her Nutcracker, children in the audience dream about dancing in the show. Various companies and nearly all ballet schools have presented the basic show, along with Tchaikovsky’s music. ABT first staged “The Nutcracker” in 1976. The present production choreographed by Alexei Ratmansky first premiered in 2010. However, as principal ballerina Isabella Boylston noted in a recent interview, ABT switched things up a little before heading to the Segerstrom Center for the Performance Arts for their annual holiday residency.

Ratmansky’s version has actually featured differences to other versions for many years, including a kitchen scene before the Stahlbaum family’s holiday party and more mischievous mice. Ratmansky’s staging mixes mimed expressions and humorous interplay with virtuosic leaps and turns. He places greater emphasis on young Clara and the boy Nutcracker. They do more dancing than usual and even dance downstage from the Princess version of Clara (instead of the Sugar Plum Fairy) and the Nutcracker now as a Prince. This sequence shows how the young Clara fantasizes her future with the come-to-life toy/boy.

Noteworthy Elements

Boylston and James Whiteside gleamed in their Land of the Sugar Plum Fairy pas de deux. Trinity Mijares and Sawyer Sublette shined as young Clara and the Nutcracker.

However, it is the ABT corps de ballet that seems to upstage the principals. As beautiful snowflakes, they darted and swirled with precision, creating illusions of snow flurries, whirling with their tutus fanning out, filling the stage. Later, the corps further displayed stunning technique as flowers waltzing alone and, in one of Ratmansky’s humorous changes, partnered by four male bees (Connor Holloway, Andrii Ishchuk, Carlos Gonzalez and Tyler Maloney), who danced among and playfully tossed the flowers back and forth.

“The Nutcracker” cast includes children from the ABT William J. Gillespie school as cute little mice toy soldiers, little fairies, pages, and polichinelles. When last seen at the Segerstrom, the show seemed more like a children’s recital at times, distracting from the adults. That was not the case now. The children augment the holiday party scene, initial battle skirmishes, and more.

There are the usual character dances, including the dolls at the party and the international presentations in the second half. Ratmansky tried to modernize the Russian dancers, who no longer are folk dancers or clownish, and the Spanish dance. However, the dances depicting stereotypical movements and gestures from Arabia and China seem dated.

Set and costume designer Richard Hudson’s contributions are noteworthy. His colorful character costumes, from the sparking snowflakes to the Princess version of Clara, add to the magic. “The Nutcracker” show features the usual element of Clara fantasizing that everything in her world grows bigger, such as the mice and the Nutcracker himself. Usually, this is conveyed with the Christmas tree suddenly growing in size. That is done here, but other elements make the transformation clearer. The mice and soldiers progress from being portrayed by the children to adult size. Clara sits on a normal chair when she initially meets the mice. Then, she is sitting atop a gigantic chair peering down on the battle scene, so the mice still appear small to her.

Attending “The Nutcracker” is a holiday season tradition for many, returning year after year. The American Ballet Theatre version, with its charm and magic is one of the best. “The Nutcracker” will be at the Segerstrom Center in Orange County through December 19, 2021.

Written by Dyanne Weiss

Sources:

Performance: December 10, 2021

SCFTA Performances Magazine: ABT The Nutcracker

Coveteur: For ABT’s Isabella Boylston, The Nutcracker Pas De Deux Never Gets Old

American Ballet Theatre’s “The Nutcracker” – Snowflakes – Photo by Gene Schiavone, courtesy Segerstrom Center for the Arts

American Ballet Theatre’s “The Nutcracker” – Alternate cast of Hee Seo and Cory Stearns – Photo by Doug Gifford, courtesy of Segerstrom Center for the Arts