Saturday December 22nd 2007 @ 8:00 PM - In the lead-up to Christmas, I returned to New York City Ballet for my fifth NUTCRACKER of the season inspired by the announced casting of Sara Mearns, Stephen Hanna and Erica Pereira in the leading roles. Tonight's performance was musically fresh under the baton of Clothide Otranto. The diminutive conductor brought out voices in the orchestra that I hadn't noticed before; she emphasized the darkish brass figures just before the battle of the mice and gave a very lilting Waltz of the Flowers. The City Ballet horns were especially "on" tonight; the French horn is very tricky - I know: I played it in high school. Otranto's only miscalculation was an overly-fast Candy Cane but since Daniel Ulbricht was dancing, it didn't cause any problems.
I've never enjoyed the Act I violin interlude so much as this season. Tonight Kurt Nikkanen gave a really spectacular account of this piece with silky tone and rapturous phrasing.
There were many unannounced changes in the corps casting tonight. Gwyneth Muller, the 'hostess with the mostess' in Act I, brought her inimitable smile to the Waltz in Act II. Kathryn Morgan was the unheralded grandmother in Act I - delightful - and then appeared in Snowflakes and Flowers. Erica Pereira had to warm up for her premiere Dewdrop by dancing in the Snow scene along with Stephanie Zungre. In Act II Maya Collins made a leap from Marzipan to Flowers and her replacement Shepherdess was none other than Pauline Golbin - an extra treat for me. Pauline upped the already-high glamour quotient in the quartet which boasted Likolani Brown, Ashley Laracey and Faye Arthurs. You can imagine how dizzy I got trying to watch all four girls and still keep an eye on the excellent Jennifer Tinsley-Williams in the lead. I like watching Faye during the Prince's narrative at the opening of Act II.
Likolani along with Lauren King were very attractive as Columbine & Harlequin and Anthony Huxley looks ready for bigger things with his fine Soldier. Rachel Piskin was the first Snowflake out tonight, and Glenn Keenan and Ashley Laracey are so attractive here. The Snow choreography is really rich. Someone slipped but it didn't seem serious.
The Act II divertissement commenced with Rob Fairchild (Hot Chocolate) who seemed delighted to have the striking Saskia Beskow as his partner; this was my first time seeing Saskia this Winter. I've also missed Antonio Carmena up til now - he was looking great in Tea. Savannah Lowery's commanding presence in Arabian marked her ascent to the Soloist rank. Daniel Ulbricht was a dynamic Candy Cane, winning cheers from the full house. Glenn K and Ellen Ostrom were the lead Flowers - beautiful!
The debutantes (left) Erica Pereira as Dewdrop and Sara Mearns as the Sugar Plum Fairy were both highly successful. Erica exudes delicate lyricism and youthful joy; under the delicacy there is formidable technical strength. Her sustained balances and elegant turns moved the audience to volleys of applause after each solo passage; Erica's engaging smile sealed her triumph. She got a roar at her curtain call. Sara looked more ravishing than ever; the opening solo was phrased with gracious style and her velvety technique and assured musicality were big assets in the adagio where she and Stephen Hanna had developed a smooth response to all the demands. Stephen was a handsome and gallant presence. Only the plate on which the Sugar Plum Fairy glides betrayed them; this has been a problem over the past few season and needs attention. Otherwise, the pas de deux was the perfect climax to a very enjoyable performance. It was a good sign of the current depth and range of talent in the Company that two such fine debuts could occur in the same performance.
I'm really sorry I missed those debuts. NYCB has always had marvelous dancers but can you recall a time in the company's history when there was this much depth of talent at the soloist and corps levels?
Posted by: Bob | December 23, 2007 at 11:13 AM
It's a wonderful time for NYCB with so many interesting & attractive dancers coming up the ranks. My only concern is the continuing injury rate which seems pretty high to me. Has it always been this way?
Posted by: Philip | December 23, 2007 at 12:51 PM
I suspect it has but I really can't make a definitive judgment because years ago, I never really kept a close watch on injuries at the soloist and corps levels.
Posted by: Bob | December 23, 2007 at 11:47 PM
Yeah! I am so happy to hear the debuts went well! Congrats to Sara and Erica - I can't wait to see more of them in the upcoming months!!
Posted by: Laura | December 27, 2007 at 09:40 AM
Laura, we have so much to look forward to from Sara and Erica...and they are only two of the many up-and-coming dancers now at City Ballet. It's an exciting time.
Posted by: Philip | December 27, 2007 at 01:06 PM