Word: clara
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...Hoffman's tale into the story of a young girl's Christmas fantasy that would inspire Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov to stage it for the Maryinsky Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1892. Act One opens in the Silberhaus home where the family eagerly awaits party guests, and Clara and Fritz eagerly await the accompanying presents. Their mysterious and magical godfather, Dr. Drosselmeyer (Laszlo Berdo) enters once all the guests have arrived with a number of surprises that delight the children on stage and off--a scarf turns into a bird, the clock magically obeys his hands, Harlequin...
...continues after the Christmas Eve party with Dr. Drosselmeyer's enchanted spell on the nutcracker. Everyone in the house has gone to sleep except Clara. She steals back into the living room and soon a battle begins between the life-size Nutcracker and the Mouse-King. Many surprises and creative additions strengthen this central Battle Scene. Mice jump from the stage out into the audience. A dramatic pause after the death of the Mouse-King adds drama and a touch of sorrow, followed by the comic relief of Red Cross arm-banded mice attempting CPR and carrying him away...
...powerfully ends with the new Snow scene after the nutcracker has turned into a prince and taken Clara to an enchanted forest. Trinidad Sevillano and Patrick Armand, as the Snow Queen and King, dance the newly choreographed movements with awe-inspiring strength and grace--not an easy task with snow falling throughout the scene, creating a slippery floor. The sweeping arm gestures with delicate bourre leg movement perfectly echo the motion of falling snow while the intertwining dancers surrounding the queen and king create spacial patterns on stage that mimic the delicate shape of a snowflake. Act I closes...
...symmetrically begins as the balloon descends amongst dancing angels on a cloud covered stage (created with dry ice) and Clara and the Nutcracker enter the Palace of Sweets in the sky. Balanced on the brink between girlhood and young womanhood, Clara's fantasy of a Prince in Candyland bridges fairy-tale elements that reflect her changing age. The stage sets and costumes in the second act strengthen the power of her fantasy--the walls of the palace look edible and the costumes look like they were made out of sugar and cotton candy. The Nutcracker (Carlos Santos) distinguishes himself...
...Once Clara and the Nutcracker take their seats on the side of the stage, Chocolate, Coffee, Tea, Marzipan, Mother Ginger, the Sugarplum Fairy, and Russians all perform for their pleasure. The height of the Russian dancer's leaps and their perfect synchronicity elicited tremendous applause from the audience. The slow and sensuous, technically challenging Arabian "coffee" movement performed by Kyra Strasberg, Todd Eric Allen and David Porter, mesmerized the audience and incorporated elements of modern dance into classical ballet. Finally, the rapid speed of the Sugar Plum Fairy's pirouettes and her leaps in plie on point all allowed Jennifer...