One of the most cherished of Christmas traditions is seeing a performance of The Nutcracker.  A cherished tradition for most people, but not for me.  Well into my retirement years, until last Sunday I had never seen a full production of The Nutcracker.  Christmastime was just too busy.  But I had been impressed with Pamela Hayes Classical Ballet Theatre’s production of Coppélia last summer, and I resolved to see their Nutcracker this season.  It’s not that there weren’t many other choices.  One could see The Nutcracker performed by the touring Moscow Ballet, by the Bolshoi Ballet at movie theaters, or by any of several other local ballet companies and dance studios.  But I wanted to support a quality, local company for my first experience, and I was not disappointed.  No, that’s an understatement:  I was dazzled.

The performance I saw on a Sunday afternoon at the Harris Center at Folsom Lake College (one of 5 shows), felt like a family event, with many children in the audience.  And I don’t see how every child (or every adult, for that matter) could have been less than entranced by what we saw.

(Click here to open the program in a new window.)

The overture was played in total darkness, allowing one’s imagination to soar with the beginning of Tchaikovsky’s magnificent score.  When the curtain finally opened, we experienced a visual delight in the combination of authentic scenery, costumes and social customs.  The scene for the festive Silberhaus  home was set by what appeared to be a painted mural at the back of the stage.  It was more muted than a projected image, but perhaps more realistic — a beautiful setting for the action that gave a feeling of depth.  And the action itself was constantly engaging.  At times it felt that there was just too much going on to appreciate it all.  First, of course, there was the dancing.  I have no understanding or experience with ballet to critically evaluate what I saw, but then neither does the average audience member.  What I saw, though, was grace, balance, strength, control, expressive movement, refined technique, and ultimately — artistry.  One doesn’t need a background in ballet to appreciate such obvious qualities.  And of course, so much of the artistry was apparent in the fascinating, evolving patterns and extraordinary variety in the choreography.

Naturally, there were many children among the performers.  For most of us in the audience, I dare say, our attention was involuntarily drawn to them when they were on stage, and considering the various levels of skill that were on display, I felt they performed admirably.  Sometimes their main function was to create chaos, and some of the littlest boys seemed to take special delight in doing so.  I have no idea of her age, but I can’t consider the character of Clara (played by Emmanuelle L’Hermine-Watkins) to be one of the children:  she danced and moved too professionally.

I think that the presence of so many children on stage was a big part of what held the attention of the children in the audience.  But there was so much more.  The Nutcracker is fundamentally about magic, and there was an abundance of magical effects in this production:  Herr Drosselmeyer’s (guest artist, Michael Onstad) box that made people disappear and reappear, the Christmas tree that grew 3 times in size, or even the 2 feet of theatrical haze that covered the stage at the beginning of Act Two.  When “real” snow started falling in the Land of Snow, it created quite a sensation.  As it began, one child in the audience came out with an involuntary “Oh” — causing us all to laugh, partly because we shared his awe.

The costumes were another magnificent part of this production.  It would take another review this long to begin to do them justice in their colorfulness, variety, and appropriateness for the subject of each scene or dance.  One example of this was the Waltz of the Flowers in which the dancers’ costumes were adorned with flowers, while each held a 3-foot strand of flowers that added special interest to the choreography.  The children in the audience surely were delighted by the large mouse heads of the mouse army and the glowing eyes of the Mouse King.  I was impressed by the snaking procession of the angels in the Kingdom of Sweets, each with a blond wig and a golden costume that flared at the bottom, almost reaching the floor, so that one could not see their feet as they moved.  It made that movement very fluid, as if they were floating on air.

Guest artist Sarah Beth Kosterman was stunning as the Sugar Plum Fairy.  To me, she moved with a placid grace and style that made the precise ballet moves look almost natural and easy.   It seems to me that the highest form of any art is where technique becomes transparent to the audience, as it did in her case.  Kristopher Reyes, Sarah’s partner in the “Grand Pas de Deux” was similarly impressive in his carriage, his leaps and lifts.  And the audience gave them both the appreciation they deserved.

I don’t want to slight the other members of this organization’s company.  In scene after scene their work seemed to me to be to professional standards, and that, of course, applies to Sarah Orozco and Kristopher Rickman as Snow Queen and Snow Prince.  (See page 12 of the program for pictures of the whole company.)

The overall impression I got was one of elegance.  But that's the nature of ballet, isn't it?  This was my first Nutcracker, so I was impressed by everything, and I can't really tell what costumes or props or choreography might be the same in other Nutcracker productions.  But I can say that this production seemed thoroughly professional, with high production values throughout, full of quality and finesse and creativity.  And though I might have been able to see the Bolshoi Ballet perform it on a movie screen, this was in 3-D.  And I can't imagine the touring Moscow Ballet could have included so many adorable children.

My wife, another Nutcracker neophyte, accompanied me for this performance, and her final words are telling, “I had no idea that such talent existed in our area.”