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2009-year-end-review-see-all

Is it magic yet?

Boston Ballet's Nutcracker
By JEFFREY GANTZ  |  December 2, 2009

0911_nutcracker_main
LET IT SNOW Erica Cornejo and James Whiteside supplied some of the opening-night fireworks.

When you've seen every Boston Ballet Nutcracker for the past 20-odd years, and reviewed most of them, it can get a little hard to locate the magic. Then again, when you survey other Nutcrackers around the world — I'm thinking in particular of the saccharine San Francisco Ballet entry that turned up on PBS's Great Performances last Christmas — you appreciate that there's no place like home, and not many that are as good.

The only novelty about this year's edition (at the Opera House through December 27) of the company's holiday extravaganza (the "42nd annual production," the program tells us, though since the first one was in 1965, the math doesn't quite add up) is that the Opera House is now Boston Ballet's permanent home, and with the reconstruction of the Opera House pit, music director Jonathan McPhee and the Boston Ballet Orchestra sound better than they ever did in the oversized Wang Theatre. They also sound faster than I ever remember. This is a cogent, compelling Nutcracker, but sometimes at the cost of characterization.

You could, of course, argue that characterization needn't count for much in this holiday moneymaker, a work that, worldwide, is seen by more people (and way more children) than any other ballet. But as the story that's the basis of The Nutcracker — E.T.A. Hoffmann's 1816 novella Nutcracker and Mouse King — makes clear, you can have adult content and magic. There's no want of stage wizardry here: audiences will be left scratching their heads when Uncle Drosselmeier covers Fritz with a tablecloth and causes him to levitate before snatching the cloth away to reveal . . . nothing.

There's some terpsichorean magic, as well, though I wish there were more. On opening night last Friday, the company gave us Lia Cirio as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Pavel Gurevich as her Nutcracker Cavalier. (This is one of those laudable versions where the first-act Nutcracker turns into the second-act Cavalier.) I was taken with the way Cirio, who's returned to the company after a year with the Trey McIntyre Project, pointed her celesta accompaniment in Sugar Plum's solo variation, but not with her momentum-less manège, or her fixed smile, or her failure to look at her partner. Gurevich could have used some encouragement: his jumps were big but also tentative, and his own manège was a modest one. He was promoted to principal this year after two spectacular performances as the Prince in The Sleeping Beauty last May, so the potential is there.

The opening-night fireworks came instead from Erica Cornejo and James Whiteside as Snow Queen and King and from Kathleen Breen Combes and Jaime Diaz in the Arabian divertissement. Cornejo seemed to grow lighter and more expansive with every cymbal crash, and Whiteside's rough-hewn exuberance complemented her technical precision. Breen Combes gave Arabian the sensuousness it needs but rarely gets (in this or any other production) by continually readjusting the angle of her body to Diaz's — she may come when he claps his hands, but she's not exactly his love slave. There was a fleet — almost outrunning McPhee's tempos — Dew Drop from Misa Kuranaga and a spirited and unstereotyped Chinese variation from Dalay Parrondo and Isaac Akiba. Whitney Jensen was a ditsy blonde Columbine; Josephine Pra and Altan Dugaraa as Clara's grandparents got the most out of their comic polka. Jeffrey Cirio brought some pirouetting panache to the busking Young Man (this year finally credited in the program) in the prologue; he was also an unusually energetic shepherd in the Pastorale variation.

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Related: 2009: The year in dance, Anniversary waltz, So you think you can dance?, More more >
  Topics: Dance , Entertainment, Boston Ballet Orchestra, Dance,  More more >
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Comments
Re: Is it magic yet?
No, it is definitely not magic this year.  Adorable children (students), but I felt the casting was quite odd and did a disservice to the credibility of Boston Ballet.  I buy the best seats so the children can feel the magic, however, instead of magic we got the faceless, boring Sylvia Deaton in Columbine. Why is she and Whitney Jensen dancing solo roles?  They obviously need quite a bit more training and professionalism. What has happened to our beloved Boston Ballet and our Nutcracker? We usually attended several times with all the children and nieces and nephews, but now I regret having tickets for Friday night where I have Rachel Cossar as Arabian, Sylvia Deaton as Chinese, and Whitney Jensen as Dew Drop. What ever happened to soloists doing solo roles and BB2 and corp de ballet doing corp work?Who is doing this casting and what has happened to Boston Ballet? Check    
By cassiekade on 12/03/2009 at 11:15:51
Re: Is it magic yet?
No, it is definitely not magic this year.  Adorable children (students), but I felt the casting was quite odd and did a disservice to the credibility of Boston Ballet.  I buy the best seats so the children can feel the magic, however, instead of magic we got the faceless, boring Sylvia Deaton in Columbine. Why is she and Whitney Jensen dancing solo roles?  They obviously need quite a bit more training and professionalism. What has happened to our beloved Boston Ballet and our Nutcracker? We usually attended several times with all the children and nieces and nephews, but now I regret having tickets for Friday night where I have Rachel Cossar as Arabian, Sylvia Deaton as Chinese, and Whitney Jensen as Dew Drop. What ever happened to soloists doing solo roles and BB2 and corp de ballet doing corp work?Who is doing this casting and what has happened to Boston Ballet? Check    your
By cassiekade on 12/03/2009 at 11:15:52
Re: Is it magic yet?
The Nutcracker is a classic. The music alone mesmerizes, but the dancing is spectacular. Yes, it is magical. Ms. Deaton is a solid young dancer in her second year of BBII. She earned that role with hard work and she dances it very well. I for one would love to see Ms. Jensen dance Dew Drop, lots of balances and pirouettes. She is all grace and beauty. I can't wait to see her dance more (she has just joined the company this year.) And I have no doubt Ms. Cossar will shine in Arabian as she is a professional dancer, forever in training. Boston Ballet has great depth with its dancers. No matter what cast you see, they will bring you joy. Use your imagination, appreciate all that goes into the production, get lost in the dream.
By amazon on 12/04/2009 at 11:39:14
Re: Is it magic yet?
I do see "cassiekade's" point!! If you are going to fly on an airplane would you like to have the "training" pilot fly the plane? ;)
By bbiknow on 12/05/2009 at 12:39:30
Re: Is it magic yet?
I do see "cassiekade's" point!! If you are going to fly on an airplane would you like to have the "training" pilot fly the plane? ;)
By bbiknow on 12/05/2009 at 12:39:44
Re: Is it magic yet?
I do see "cassiekade's" point!! If you are going to fly on an airplane would you like to have the "training" pilot fly the plane? ;)
By bbiknow on 12/05/2009 at 12:39:52
Re: Is it magic yet?
Considering there are only 2 female soloists it would be very difficult to cast one in the role of Columbine, who is hardly the "pilot" of the production.  The Nutcracker has great dancing, choreography and music. The Opera House is gorgeous.  But it is just one production in a whole year of dancing at Boston Ballet. Get to know the company, the school and the outreach programs they offer. Maybe then you can appreciate all the effort that goes into this production and the magic of a young dancer dancing on pointe, as a doll no less.  
By wirechick on 12/07/2009 at 12:25:45
Re: Is it magic yet?
Yes, It definetly was magic especially Ms Jensen in the role of Dew Drop. I was so moved by her elegance, grace and purity. She commanded the stage as though she has been with Boston Ballet for years. Cassiekade was complaining before they performed. I have attended the Boston Ballet Nutcracker for years and usually go more than once. If Cassikade just watched the performance rather than the rankings of the dancers(Deaton and Cossar) She would feel the magic
By joannedancer on 12/08/2009 at 10:13:24
Re: Is it magic yet?
I did attend the production that I spoke of previously, sadly, I did not feel the magic and we attended the production for the "magic".  I do appreciate talent of any age when it is worthy. However, I am not a member of Boston Ballet who is posting, or a parent of a dancer in the Nutcracker, but a member of the viewing public, and a patron of the arts, and moreover a person buying actual tickets to support the arts and view the magic with my family. And, I am VERY dissappointed with the lack of musicality and grace in the new members. I understand they are young dancers and lack experience, however I attend professional events to witness professional productions.  That is what I believe I pay for and expect.  Last year we attended Ballet Arts Nutcracker, (a student production) and were breathtaken in amazement of the grace, purity and beauty of their Clara and Sugar Plum.  I know what moves me as an audience member. When you experience that inner gasp, that is what brings us back for more. Good luck to the new members, and I hope they continue training, but I still stand by my dissappointment with the lack of magic, musicality and cohesiveness of this season. My comment stands that I wish we were watching the magnificance of last season.  That is why we bought tickets for so many shows this season.  I encourage the public to experience all the Nutcrackers around Boston this season.  This is not the only one. As I have learned to wait for casting and proceed from there, I realize that this is my choice, an opinion of all who attended and sat around my group, and my money that I am spending. 
By cassiekade on 12/09/2009 at 11:04:10
Re: Is it magic yet?
I did attend the production that I spoke of previously, sadly, I did not feel the magic and we attended the production for the "magic".  I do appreciate talent of any age when it is worthy. However, I am not a member of Boston Ballet who is posting, or a parent of a dancer in the Nutcracker, but a member of the viewing public, and a patron of the arts, and moreover a person buying actual tickets to support the arts and view the magic with my family. And, I am VERY dissappointed with the lack of musicality and grace in the new members. I understand they are young dancers and lack experience, however I attend professional events to witness professional productions.  That is what I believe I pay for and expect.  Last year we attended Ballet Arts Nutcracker, (a student production) and were breathtaken in amazement of the grace, purity and beauty of their Clara and Sugar Plum.  I know what moves me as an audience member. When you experience that inner gasp, that is what brings us back for more. Good luck to the new members, and I hope they continue training, but I still stand by my dissappointment with the lack of magic, musicality and cohesiveness of this season. My comment stands that I wish we were watching the magnificance of last season.  That is why we bought tickets for so many shows this season.  I encourage the public to experience all the Nutcrackers around Boston this season.  This is not the only one. As I have learned to wait for casting and proceed from there, I realize that this is my choice, an opinion of all who attended and sat around my group, and my money that I am spending. 
By cassiekade on 12/09/2009 at 11:07:03
Re: Is it magic yet?
Whitney Jensen was an awesome Dew Drop Fairy! 
By wirechick on 12/11/2009 at 12:32:44

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