Nutcracker Season at New York City Ballet went by like a sleigh on jets — mostly because the tickets were so cost-prohibitive that much of the faithful core audience couldn’t afford to attend many performances, let alone binge like one might want. So it was best just to forget about it for most of the season. In fact, when the Mouse King waddled out in all his vainglorious macho, he boasted how he was going to make Nutcracker even greater again next year by charging $400 for every seat in the house and soaking parents double the amount for their kids to have their pictures taken in front of a picture of posing snowflake dancers of yesteryear. Apparently it was too risky to have a human snowflake dancer on hand engaging with the public but it was safe to have a real live cashier ringing up sales and intimately counseling folks on their choice of final photos. Ah, well. . .
But we did manage to buy a few performances early-on which turned out to be lucky in the Sugarplum Fairy category: both of Sterling Hyltin’s dates, a Tiler Peck evening, and a magical matinee with Mira Nadon.
The performances by Sterling Hyltin — her final ones before retiring — did not evoke the sadness that we anticipated. They felt less like events celebrating a retirement/goodbye and more like a graduation sendoff. That’s because we’ve always had a sense that Sterling’s contributions during her prime of life could overshadow her gifts to us during the prime of her performing career. It’s just a gut feeling. The company is lucky that she will remain close by. All that sensitivity on stage, the love of getting it right, the respect for her partners and colleagues, and the ability to adapt and achieve greatness within an imperfect system will be shared by her in the coming years with those who will indeed struggle to fill her shoes. In her last two performances as the Sugarplum Fairy, both opposite Andrew Veyette whose own performances were highly energized and polished, Sterling filled her dancing with the clarity, crispness, warmth and wonder that has always made her perfect for this role. It came as no surprise to see her express her gratitude with a bouquet and hug for Peter Martins who stood in the aisle by the stage’s apron at her Farewell performance. The audience instantly recognized him and gave him the extended warm reception that he so deserves.
Tiler Peck and Chun Wai Chan were stylish and dazzling as a couple in their performance. The Sugarplum Fairy role requires a lot of sustained arabesques. While Tiler always technically made her arabesques, they were generally modest. Chan threw impressive turns a la second and looked every inch the handsome Cavalier.
Mira went on to captivate all of the children and the audience with her graceful yet authoritative arabesques, piques that made their own statements, and confident pirouettes. An unscheduled exit during The Little Prince's mime solo -- apparently to fix a pointe shoe that went kerflooey -- caused some audience concern but Mira returned on cue to wave her wand right on the musical climax. Her pas de deux with Peter Walker was sublime. The jumps to his shoulder, the sliding arabesque, the step-over pirouette caught by the wrists, and the thrilling promenade that concluded with a sustained balance and daring drop into a fish position were all masterfully completed by the two.
At this performance, Isabella LaFreniere danced brilliantly as Dewdrop with absolute command of her long, articulate limbs. In the Peck/Chan performance Unity Phelan glistened beautifully in the role, and in both of the Hyltin/Veyette performances, Indiana Woodward combined authority with her lovely musicality. Christina Clark made an impressive debut as Coffee while Alexa Maxwell deepened her theatrical hold on the role. Daniel Ulbricht was perfection in Candy Cane; Harrison Coll’s CC was thrilling; Cainan Weber’s hulahoop was uncooperative at the performance we saw.
Our H.H. Pump Bump Award, which had to be scaled back due to the price of Nutcracker tickets, is bestowed upon Mira Nadon and Peter Walker for their exquisite pas de deux as the Sugarplum Fairy and Her Cavalier.