Nutcracker Suite
Directed by: Alberta Ballet
The company did full justice to Nissinen's version at Edmonton's Jubilee Auditorium from December 14 to 16, before taking the show to the Southern Jubilee Auditorium in Calgary. Formerly partnered with Ballet BC since 2000, Alberta Ballet was on its own this year, and the performance was a triumph.
Tchaikovsky's enchanting score was brilliantly performed by the Edmonton Symphony under the capable baton of Peter Dala. The Bavarian setting designed by Roger La Voie for the Christmas party of Act One features a Christmas tree that grows to gigantic proportions in Clara's dream sequence and a golden swan that ferries Clara and her Nutcracker Prince to the Land of Sweets in Act Two. The golden swan-boat and the grandfather clock fashioned like an owl with large, flapping wings and glowing red eyes evoked Von Rothbart, the evil magician of Swan Lake. The costumes designed by Paul Daigle are delicious, especially the delectable colours of Act Two.
The company was at its scintillating best on Saturday night, December 15. Highlights included a brilliant Nutcracker Prince danced by world-class French dancer, Bernard Courtot de Bouteiller, who amazed the audience with his innovative spins. Although slight of stature, he proved a capable partner to the Sugar Plum Fairy performed with poise and charm by Korean dancer Jun-Ming Hong, who awed the audience with her balances in arabesque. The other principal couple, Edmonton's own Galien Johnston and English dancer Jonathan Byrne Ollivier, demonstrated their versatility in their dual roles of elegant Snow Queen and King of Act One and sinuous Arabian dancers of Act Two.
Artistic Director Jean Grand-Maître announced a contest to spot the media personalities among the Christmas party guests in Act One. The children from Edmonton's numerous dance schools were both engaging and well rehearsed in their roles as party guests, mice, soldiers, and angels. The children on stage, led by Clara, were only rivaled in charm by the children in the audience. Kelley McKinlay had full rein to unleash his sense of fun as the Grandfather in Act One, even hiding in the box used to transport the marionettes.
The marionettes themselves—the Harlequin doll danced by Japanese dancer Yukichi Hattori, who astonished the audience with his agility, the Ballerina Doll danced by Victoria Lane Green, who captured the mechanical quality to a rare degree, and the Toy Soldier danced by Patrick Doe—provided one of the high points of the Christmas party.
The politically incorrect but traditional national dances of Act Two—including Spanish, Arabian, Chinese, Russian—were ironically appropriate for a company that has become increasingly international. The other divertissements in the Land of Sweets, including the Pastorale and Waltz were highly entertaining. The highlight of Act Two, as always, was the grand pas danced by the Sugar Plum Fairy partnered by the Nutcracker Prince.
Next year company ballet master, Edmund Stripe, who choreographed the highly successful Alice in Wonderland for the company in 2006, will bring new life to this Christmas classic. Set in Imperial Russia, Stripe's version will feature a Mouse Tsar instead of a Mouse King. Set in the Palace of the Sugar Plum Fairy, the new version will feature sets and costumes designed by Zack Brown.
Alberta Ballet will perform two works by Jean Grand-Maître in the new year: Dangerous Liaisons in February and Mozart's Requiem with the Edmonton Opera and Edmonton Symphony in April.
Article by: Nora Foster Stovel
posted:19 Dec 2008
The Nutcracker is to ballet what Handel's Messiah is to choral music: Christmas would not be complete without it. Created over a century ago, this delectable dance delights audiences throughout the world every Christmas. This year Alberta Ballet bade farewell to the version created by former Artistic Director, Mikko Nissinen. This choreography, first set by previous Artistic Director Ali Pourfarrokh fourteen years ago, has been performed for over 50,000 audience members each year since 1998, totalling 400,000 spectators in eight years, touring beyond Alberta to Vancouver, Victoria, and Seattle. A major source of funding, like other ballet companies, The Nutcracker has raised over seven million dollars for the company.
The company did full justice to Nissinen's version at Edmonton's Jubilee Auditorium from December 14 to 16, before taking the show to the Southern Jubilee Auditorium in Calgary. Formerly partnered with Ballet BC since 2000, Alberta Ballet was on its own this year, and the performance was a triumph.
Tchaikovsky's enchanting score was brilliantly performed by the Edmonton Symphony under the capable baton of Peter Dala. The Bavarian setting designed by Roger La Voie for the Christmas party of Act One features a Christmas tree that grows to gigantic proportions in Clara's dream sequence and a golden swan that ferries Clara and her Nutcracker Prince to the Land of Sweets in Act Two. The golden swan-boat and the grandfather clock fashioned like an owl with large, flapping wings and glowing red eyes evoked Von Rothbart, the evil magician of Swan Lake. The costumes designed by Paul Daigle are delicious, especially the delectable colours of Act Two.
The company was at its scintillating best on Saturday night, December 15. Highlights included a brilliant Nutcracker Prince danced by world-class French dancer, Bernard Courtot de Bouteiller, who amazed the audience with his innovative spins. Although slight of stature, he proved a capable partner to the Sugar Plum Fairy performed with poise and charm by Korean dancer Jun-Ming Hong, who awed the audience with her balances in arabesque. The other principal couple, Edmonton's own Galien Johnston and English dancer Jonathan Byrne Ollivier, demonstrated their versatility in their dual roles of elegant Snow Queen and King of Act One and sinuous Arabian dancers of Act Two.
Artistic Director Jean Grand-Maître announced a contest to spot the media personalities among the Christmas party guests in Act One. The children from Edmonton's numerous dance schools were both engaging and well rehearsed in their roles as party guests, mice, soldiers, and angels. The children on stage, led by Clara, were only rivaled in charm by the children in the audience. Kelley McKinlay had full rein to unleash his sense of fun as the Grandfather in Act One, even hiding in the box used to transport the marionettes.
The marionettes themselves—the Harlequin doll danced by Japanese dancer Yukichi Hattori, who astonished the audience with his agility, the Ballerina Doll danced by Victoria Lane Green, who captured the mechanical quality to a rare degree, and the Toy Soldier danced by Patrick Doe—provided one of the high points of the Christmas party.
The politically incorrect but traditional national dances of Act Two—including Spanish, Arabian, Chinese, Russian—were ironically appropriate for a company that has become increasingly international. The other divertissements in the Land of Sweets, including the Pastorale and Waltz were highly entertaining. The highlight of Act Two, as always, was the grand pas danced by the Sugar Plum Fairy partnered by the Nutcracker Prince.
Next year company ballet master, Edmund Stripe, who choreographed the highly successful Alice in Wonderland for the company in 2006, will bring new life to this Christmas classic. Set in Imperial Russia, Stripe's version will feature a Mouse Tsar instead of a Mouse King. Set in the Palace of the Sugar Plum Fairy, the new version will feature sets and costumes designed by Zack Brown.
Alberta Ballet will perform two works by Jean Grand-Maître in the new year: Dangerous Liaisons in February and Mozart's Requiem with the Edmonton Opera and Edmonton Symphony in April.
Article by: Nora Foster Stovel
posted:19 Dec 2008
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