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| Programme |
ACT I
It is Christmas at the Stahlbaum's house in Germany, and guests are seen arriving for a party. Droselmeyer, godfather to the two children of the household, Marie and Fritz, brings an intriguing present, a nutcracker doll. The children wait anxiously for the christmas tree lights to come on. Eventually they do and Droselmeyer re-enters disguised as a magician. He entrances the children with his ability to make dolls seemingly come to life. When he has finished, Marie wants to play with the dolls, but they have been taken away, all except the nutcracker doll which Droselmeyer gives to her. The mischeivious Fritz breaks the doll. Marie is very upset but Fritz and his young friends put on mouse masks to tease her. The evening draws to an end, and the merry-makers are seen leaving.
Night falls. Marie falls asleep under the christmas tree, cradling her beloved nutcracker doll in her arms. She has a wonderful dream in which Droselmeyer is a real magician and brings all the dolls to life. But then the mouse king enters with his army and the dolls run away. Then nutcracker comes to the rescue leading an army of toy soldiers against the mice. But the mice are too many, soon only nutcracker is left. Marie, fearing for her new favourite, throws a lit candle at the mice and frightens them away. The dolls go to help nutcracker who is lying broken on the floor. Then a miracle happens, nutcracker is transformed into a handsome living Prince.
The walls of the house disappear and Marie and the toys find themselves outside under a starlit sky. Snowflakes dance enchantingly before Marie and her Prince board a magical boat to carry them away to the kingdom of the Christmas trees.
ACT II
Marie and the Nutcracker Prince are whisked away in their magical boat. The dolls follow but so do the mouse king and his minions. The mice attack, Nutcracker fights them and wins again. The mouse king is martally wounded and the mice are destroyed. The dolls dance in celebration, each in their pairs in turn. The snowflakes dance around the candles after which Marie dances with her Prince. She is happy, in the land of her dreams.
But that is just what it was, a dream. Marie awakes, and all the magical fantasies disappear. She is at home with her parents, under the tree with her much loved nutcracker doll.
To paraphrase the old cliche this was very much a production of two halves (acts). The first was good but there was nothing special in the choreography to really leave a lasting impression. The highlight near the end was the dance of the snowflakes, conducted by eighteen ballerina's in white tutu's under a soft blue tinted light.
The second act was a big improvement and began to deliver some of the magic we were promised. After the Nutcracker prince had fought off the mice we were treated to a succession of pas-de-deux in the dances of the dolls, in contrasting styles reflecting their nationalities. First came the Spanish dolls dancing to music laden with the clack of castanets. Next came the Indian dolls (I would have said Siamese) dancing in slow rythmic movements, and these were followed by Chinese dolls with much energetic leaping and spinning. After that came the Russian dolls dancing with their jerky movements and last but not least the French dolls, a pair of young shepherds complete with lamb (on castors).
That was followed by a second dance from the snowflakes, outshining their first appearance. The ballerinas this time wore longer multi-layered gossamer skirted tutus and were accompanied this time by the male candles. The piece de resistance however, was the main pas de deux for the two principals. We had to wait some time for these two very talented dancers to really show us the best that they were capable of but it was well worth the wait, Marie looking magnificent in her glittering white tutu.
Near the end, Marie is veiled and cleverly substituted for a double so that she can slip away and change for her final appearance. This enables her at the end to glide off-stage in her tutu and re-appear almost immediately in her nightclothes.
The music for the production was provided by a live orchestra about forty strong, and the sets, whilst being simplistic, were effective and cunningly constructed of multilayered curtains (with painted and/or sewn on scenery) that could easily be raised or lowered.
Maria Poliudova as Marie and Vladimir Statnii as the Nutcracker Prince were certainly the stand out stars of the evening. Both had great presence and proved themselves to be very technically talented performers with impeccable timing. Their pas de deux in the second act was certainly the main moment of magic in the show. Kristina Surucheanu was worthy of mention as the nutcracker doll, holding a rigid pose as she was picked up and carried away off stage underarm. The remainder of the corps de ballet displayed a charm and enthusiasm for their art which was a joy to behold.
A slow starter but well worth waiting for. Some excellent individual performances from the soloists, particularly the two leads.