Haglund loves the San Francisco Ballet's PBS production of The Nutcracker. Inventive and creative concept, gorgeous sets and costumes, incredible dancers. The Rat King, for his teeth and hairy body alone, is to die for. His starring scene captivates the viewer when not only the Christmas tree grows taller and taller, but all of the scenery and characters become enormous leaving little Clara completely overwhelmed.
San Francisco Ballet's The Nutcracker, which aired last night on PBS, is going to be repeated this week. Check local listings. It's scheduled on New York's PBS Channel 13 for Christmas Eve.
Helgi Tomasson's production takes place around the Panama-Pacific International Exposition – 1915 World's Fair in San Francisco and finds many of its themes in the Palace of Fine Arts and the Palace of Horticulture. While the choreography may not be compelling in places, it all comes together to create a unique and very believable fantasy and a world that the viewer yearns to be part of - if only for an evening.
By the way, the San Francisco Ballet performs Fokine's Petrouchka March 2-7, 2010 and John Neumeier's The Little Mermaid (for adults only) March 20-28, 2010 at the War Memorial Opera House.
Slightly off-topic, but there's another NYCB memoir out. This one is by Zippora Karz, about her battle with diabetes while dancing.
http://www.amazon.com/Sugarless-Plum-Zippora-Karz/dp/0373892039/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1261607792&sr=8-2-fkmr0
One nitpick: she was a soloist, and on Amazon they keep referring to her as a "ballerina" and even "prima ballerina." So sue me I'm a ballet purist. She was a ballet dancer, but not a ballerina, much less a prima.
Has any other company had so many? Memoirs, I mean, not ballerinas.
Posted by: diana | December 23, 2009 at 05:37 PM
Thanks for the heads up on the book, Diana. I noticed that it was very reasonably priced on Amazon.
- Haglund
Posted by: Haglund's Heel | December 23, 2009 at 09:24 PM