Tuesday December 6, 2011 - Each season, New York City Ballet offers a couple of 'press nights' during the run of George Balanchine's NUTCRACKER. I missed the opening this year, but tonight I was there to see Jennie Somogyi (above, in a Henry Leutwyler portrait), Jared Angle and Ashley Bouder in the leading roles.
I love Ms. Somogyi's Sugar Plum Fairy; she is a ballerina I would lke to see cast more frequently at NYCB but perhaps her very rarity gives her performances a special quality. She looked super-sleek and sexy dancing with Ballet Next earlier this Autumn and she looked elegant this evening as she danced her opening solo. Later, in the adagio, Jennie brought a touch of impetuosity to her interpretation. Jared Angle was her excellent cavalier, his astute partnering allowing the ballerina to move at full flourish thru the many supported pirouettes and lunges. All the little 'hazards' that Mr. B has planted in this pas de deux were turned into a series of triumphs and Jennie polished off her magical upstage glide with a neatly-held balance. As volleys of applause swept over the dancers at the end of their duet, they saluted one another with a courtly bow.
An Ashley Bouder Dewdrop is de rigueur each season. Such brilliantly confident dancing from the ballerina today: no two Bouder Dewdrops are exactly alike, as she always varies the velocity and timing of the combinations with her own imaginative touches. Soon this classic meeting of dancer and role will be seen (and thus preserved) when the Balanchine NUTCRACKER is shown in movie theatres and then on television on consecutive nights: December 13th and 14th. Go Ashley!
Setting the evening in motion, Adam Hendrickson was a capital Drosselmeyer. Combining handsome presence and theatrical flair, Adam's interpretation captures the kind of magic that has kept this NUTCRACKER vital for nearly six decades. How great that his performance will now be seen by a vast audience in the upcoming theater showing and telecast.
At the party, Amanda Hankes was an aristocratic Frau Stahlbaum and Ask LaCour her tall and imposing spouse. Devin Alberda was an impeccable Soldier, and Callie Bachman and Sara Adams danced prettily as Columbine and Harlequin. I'm beginning to wonder if the onstage snowfall that ends the first act is the only snow we will see this Winter: temperatures hover in the 60s. Very unusual.
Adrian Danchig-Waring danced so grandly in Spanish and he gallantly squired an unexpected partner when the vivacious Brittany Pollack stepped in - seemingly at the last minute - for the scheduled Ana Sophia Scheller. Rebecca Krohn's alluring Arabian radiates star quality and her long legs are so nicely set off by the costume. Ralph Ippolito's tall Tea could barely be contained by his Chinese box and Craig Hall was simply sensational as Candy Cane. Lauren King's Marzipan looks lovely and fresh and her back-up quartet - Mlles. Mann, Dronova, Smith and Laracey - were equally fetching. Andrew Scordato was a playful Mother Ginger.
Bouder's glittering Dewdrop was the crown jewel in Mr B's superbly structured Waltz of the Flowers. It was good to see Mary Elizabeth Sell and Marika Anderson dancing so beautifully as the demi-soliste Flowers today. I like them both very much and always appreciate a chance to see them in fearured roles.
But how I miss seeing Dara Johnson and Maya Collins in the rose garden this season; I know that corps dancers come and go but I miss these girls both as dancers and as personalities.
It was unfortunate to see a few rows of empty seats today both in the orchestra and up in the 4th Ring; and the 5th Ring - usually so popular with NUTZ regulars - was totally empty.
TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 6, 6 PM (Conductor: Sill)
SUGARPLUM: Somogyi; CAVALIER: J. Angle; DEWDROP: Bouder; HERR DROSSELMEIER: Hendrickson; MARZIPAN: King; HOT CHOCOLATE: Muller, Tworzyanski; COFFEE: Krohn; TEA: Ippolito; CANDY CANE: Hall; MOTHER GINGER: Scordato; FLOWERS: Anderson, Sell; DOLLS: Bachman, Adams; SOLDIER: Alberda; MOUSE KING: Thew; DR & FRAU STAHLBAUM: Hankes, la Cour