Joffrey 'Nutcracker' remains an uncluttered masterpiece

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Joffrey ‘Nutcracker’ remains an uncluttered masterpiece

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By Lucia Mauro
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Special to the Tribune
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Published December 16 2004

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For adult ballet lovers, the perennial sprouting of “The Nutcracker” across stages every holiday season might induce a sugar headache. It tends to frolic in the same snow-dotted landscape of good cheer as Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” And most dance companies-aware of the families who annually swarm to the Tchaikovsky classic- consider it their cash cow.

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But the Joffrey Ballet’s sumptuous production, which opened Wednesday at the Auditorium Theatre, remains a singular testament to the ballet’s gracious storytelling and operatic virtuosity. The Chicago-based company’s late co-founder, Robert Joffrey, conceived of this “Nutcracker” as a Victorian Americana salute to children’s dreams. Inspired by his own collection of vintage toys, Joffrey conjures a universe where the real and the imaginary coexist.

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The Act I Christmas party sets the stage for the young girl Clara, under the influence of her magician-uncle Drosselmeyer, to transport memories of that festive night into a carousel-like place that swirls around her impressionable mind. Thus a tiny rocking horse grows larger and bears the Snow Queen and Snow King; the bouquet Clara receives from her suitor (the eventual Nutcracker Prince) explodes into petals that flit and unfold before her eyes.

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Even the mice in the family parlor become pivotal psychological enlargements as they battle the Nutcracker, who carries Clara off to the Kingdom of the Sweets. With so many living replicas of toy soldiers, ethnic dolls and flowers, “The Nutcracker” is the balletic equivalent of walking through a shimmering garden while gorging on chocolates and gingerbread. But it’s not a trivial ballet.

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Joffrey and the troupe’s co-founder and artistic director, Gerald Arpino (who choreographed the “Snowflakes” and “Flowers” waltzes), understood the emotional depth and technical complexity of the piece beyond its Yuletide setting. The troupe integrates low-tech special effects (the growing Christmas tree still gets the biggest applause) with dancing of the highest order as they steadfastly honor the imaginative spirit.

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Children make up a fair share of the production, including a roster of area youth choirs. But most of the action is propelled by the Joffrey dancers, including Jennifer Goodman as Clara and Willy Shives as her gentle, generous Nutcracker Prince. Brian McSween’s sinister-sensual Drosselmeyer never overplays the pantomime. In fact, all the artists avoid gimmickry and fake cheeriness.

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As the Snow Prince, Calvin Kitten performed with an air of otherworldliness; his suspended grand jetés dangled him somewhere close to infinity. Valerie Robin and Samuel Pergande lent regal restraint to the “Snow” scene. Maia Wilkins’ Sugar Plum Fairy’s grand pas de deux with Shives’ Nutcracker blended delicacy with flawless phrasing-all under the textured baton of principal conductor Leslie B. Dunner.

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The Joffrey’s “Nutcracker” is an uncluttered masterpiece of elegance and maturity, free of heavy psychological examination yet not without its moments of humor and heartwrenching gravitas.

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http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/search/mmx-g671nv0h8.14dec15,1,6984502.story
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From the Chicago Tribune

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