Reviews
Joffrey’s ‘Nutcracker,’ Waltzing Into Christmas
By Sarah Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Published Thursday, November 25, 2004; Page C01
Let us give thanks for the Sugar Plum Fairy. Let us be
thankful for her pink tulle, for her daintiness, for her
elegant manners. Let us also give thanks for a very sweet
Clara, for a roguish but not too fresh Fritz, for flowers
that waltz and for all the other trimmings of a traditional
“Nutcracker.”
It may feel too early for a Christmas
party — considering the Thanksgiving bird is barely out of
the oven — but the Joffrey Ballet’s “Nutcracker,” which
opened a five-day run at the Kennedy Center Opera House last
night, is always welcome in my book. It is steeped in values
both moral and artistic. It is gorgeous to look at and
brightly danced. It throws its arms open to the little
children in the audience, and satisfies their parents, too.
And after several seasons of strange and misguided
“Nutcrackers” — those would be the Kirov, Bolshoi and
American Ballet Theatre versions — the Joffrey’s wholesome,
standard take on the 112-year-old ballet feels exceedingly
fresh.
When he choreographed this production in
1987, the late Robert Joffrey transplanted the original
Russian ballet to the America of the Victorian 1850s,
drawing on old postcards and antiques he had collected. As a
result, the costumes and decor are full of vintage
character. The ladies at Mayor Stahlbaum’s soiree wear
sweeping hoop skirts, and their children play with a
charming assortment of kites, wooden pull-toys, hobbyhorses
and rag dolls. Pint-size angels dressed as white Christmas
trees with gossamer wings swirl through the Land of Snow.
The Kingdom of Sweets looks like what ice cream parlors in
heaven must be — radiant pink, with graceful soaring
pillars and ribbon-candy balustrades.
Thanks to John
David Ridge’s costumes and Oliver Smith’s scenery, there is
not a sour spot in the ballet. The first-act party is one of
the loveliest stage pictures you could ever hope to
encounter. The tony parlor is warm mauve, the gowns are
peacock blues, corals and deep plums. The tree-growing scene
had a good deal of theatrical punch, complete with a
showbizzy light show. The battle scene was terrific fun,
with soldiers armed with muskets and aided by blinding
blasts from a cannon. An overactive fog machine turned the
snow scene into a blizzard on opening night — toward the
end of Valerie Robin and Samuel Pergande’s duet you could
actually get a glimpse of them — but that appeared to be
the sole technical glitch.
The dancing was somewhat
rocky last night; a few Snowflakes went adrift, and one
wished for more suppleness in the Waltz of the Flowers, some
of whose members had a brittle air. (Was it the Clematis?
The Dahlia? The buds are all named for Victorian posies.)
A higher standard was achieved by the principal dancers.
As the Sugar Plum Fairy, Maia Wilkins seemed spun out of the
sparkle dust that Dr. Drosselmeyer kept tossing about — she
was all delicacy and light. Willy Shives was her Nutcracker
Prince, a true gentleman with regal bearing. Jenny Goodman
was an animated, winsome Clara, with not a speck of
saccharine, and Calvin Kitten was an endearing Fritz. The
second-act divertissements were suitably vibrant,
particularly Emily Patterson and Peter Kozak as Coffee from
Arabia, rendered more like a temple dance from a
romanticized India.
Much credit is due the dozens of
children lovingly and artfully incorporated into each scene,
expertly drilled but with plenty of pep left over. The
children danced alongside the professionals in the party
scene, cavorted with the soldiers, rats and mice in the
battle by the tree, and served as escorts and adorable
totems for the Tea from China, Nougats from Russia and the
other folk dances in the second act.
In the end,
this is what was most touching and meaningful of all — the
Joffrey version treats children tenderly, honoring their
spunk and their imagination. This approach is a lovely
notion with which to begin the holiday season.