It may not be a good sign for a ballet performance when the activation of the scenery becomes the highlight. Last evening’s performance of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker at NYCB delivered the ever brilliant electrical voltage that sparks the magic in this production, but it was a little low on human voltage.
We’re still a ways out from Christmas. Three weeks is an eternity if you’re a six-year-old waiting for Santa. So perhaps as we get closer to Christmas and the supply of sugar-loaded treats backstage increases, the children in the cast will become more irrepressibly fizzy in their excitement. They were a very well rehearsed bunch, however. The Bunny possessed a new Clint Eastwood swagger. Silas Farley’s Mouse King was very lucky that he didn’t lose his tail during the Bunny Blitz, that brief but important few seconds when the Bunny saved the Nutcracker from the Mouse King’s skewer by yanking the Mouse King’s tail.
Our Marie, Nutcracker Prince, and Fritz were all delightful as were the Angels who were uniform and steady as they floated along the stage carrying their little evergreen trees.
The best dancing of the evening came from Peter Walker in Hot Chocolate and Daniel Ulbricht as the lead Candy Cane. Walker drove through the Spanish rhythms with dominating intensity. His partner, Ashley Hod, who is still working her way back from a long injury layoff, danced carefully, but it was a relief to see her back on stage in a featured role. Alexa Maxwell, who also has been out for a long time with injury, was one of the outstanding Marzipan Shepherdesses led by Lauren King.
Daniel Ulbricht has been dancing the lead Candy Cane his whole illustrious career but his energy and commitment are just as high as in his early years performing this role. He still is the one who can stir an audience from its sleep as soon as he bolts out on stage with the hula hoop. Last evening his entrance was the turning point for this performance. All of a sudden, the whole evening acquired a sense of celebration –– and the kids in the audience were instantly ready to dance. Ulbricht and Erica Pereira will perform the Nutcracker leads on Sunday, December 22 at 5pm. At that performance, Isabella LaFreniere will dance the Dewdrop. By the way, there are tickets to a couple of NYCB Nutcracker matinees on TDF at the moment. It’s an unusual occurrence to see the company’s Nutcracker on TDF, but it means that more of the faithful core audience will be able to afford tickets.
Our Dewdrop last evening was Megan Fairchild whose gracefulness kept her hardy technique from looking like hardy technique. It’s a little disturbing how Dewdrop at NYCB has, in a few instances, evolved into a Kitri-like character. Flash and dash, mug and slug. That’s not Dewdrop. Megan had the right idea and the right balance.
It’s difficult to write about our Sugarplum Fairy and Her Cavalier. The role of Sugarplum Fairy has more grand allegro in it than all of Maria Kowroski’s other repertory combined in most years. This role has considerable sentimental value for any long-term ballerina, but it is also a role that perhaps should be the first one retired due to its difficulty. Peter Martins was absolutely right to withdraw the role from Wendy Whelan’s repertory over her objections and probably should have done it a few years earlier. Her whining about it simply underscored how important it is for the company to have a strong leader who can honestly tell a dancer when she no longer looks her best in a role. It takes a strong leader to maintain that NYCB owes the audience the best that it can deliver.
Some jarring adjustments to the tempo by Andrew Litton in order to accommodate Maria simply magnified leaden feet and legs that were not as steady as in the past. Stamina was missing. Pirouettes were wobbly. Her Cavalier, Tyler Angle, appeared to run out of gas when it came time to do the turns a la seconde and even during the manège of coupé jetés. This performance was being filmed; large cameras were set up on both sides and in the front of the first tier. Unfortunately, this was not a performance that we’d like to see commemorate either artist.
The Corps de Ballet looked very strong in the Snowflake and Flower sections. It is so wonderful to see our Sequoias back moving at full speed: Christina Clark, Isabella LaFreniere, Ashley Hod. The newest Sequoia, Savannah Durham looked lovely as well. She lost her Snowflake crown at some point but that just made it easier to follow her. She has such beautiful feet, but she hasn’t quite found all of her legs yet. There is a lot to manage there and a lot to rev up to Balanchine’s speed.
Meanwhile, the pint-sized Emma Von Enck moved with extraordinary speed and grace among the Snowflakes. She’s the equivalent of a hummingbird in pointe shoes.
We’re going to keep checking TDF for Nutcracker tickets, because we’d really like to go back several more times this season to see all of these wonderful artists.
The H.H. Pump Bump Award, a Louboutin red limited edition for 2019, is bestowed upon Daniel Ulbricht for always bringing such a high level of professionalism to his performances, in particularly at this time of year in his role as the Candy Cane.