Thursday December 8, 2011 - Tall ballerinas rule! This evening at New York City Ballet, some of the Company's most glamorous gams were on display as Maria Kowroski (above) and Teresa Reichlen appeared as Sugar Plum Fairy and Dewdrop respectively. When I saw this casting announced I knew I wanted to be there.
Maria's radiant dancing of the solo that opens Act II set the tone for the festivities ahead; later the ballerina looked regal and serene as Tyler Angle escorted her onstage for the pas de deux. Their performance showed equal measures of dazzle and finesse, with Tyler's presence and partnering marking him as heir to the Philip Neal/Charles Askegard tradition. Maria's queenly extension looked wondrous as she sculpted the various prima ballerina poses that Mr B has given her.
But to start at the beginning, Adrian Danchig-Waring's elegant, Old World styling of Dr. Stahlbaum was well-matched by by his lovely spouse, Marika Anderson. They both had their hands full with their crafty little son, played by Gregor McKenzie Gillen. I've been enjoying Gregor's interpretation this season; he looks like a placid little angel but all the while he's plotting his next bit of mischief. Claire Abraham was the pretty Clara and Jeremy Wong a dapper little Prince. Stephanie Zungre was an adorable Grandmother with the affable Taylor Stanley as Grandfather. Likolani Brown and Jenelle Manzi danced the Harlequinade duet gracefully and Vincent Paradiso subtly puts an extra beat on his entrechats as the Soldier.
Sometime between Tuesday and Thursday, Adam Hendrickson must have visited Dmitri Hvorostovsky's hairdresser: his hair went much greyer. Perhaps Adam's trying out diffferent looks for the upcoming telecast. Either way, his performance of Drosselmeyer is first-rate: detailed, magical, and responsive to all his fellow actors.
The violin interlude, which Kurt Nikkanen must have played hundreds of times over the years, held the audience's attention tonight; conductor Paul Hoskins then brought a nice sense of grandness to the music of the Snow scene, working up to a brisk galop near the end.
Savannah Lowery and Ask LaCour led the Spanish dance in expansive, space-filling style. Then Gwyneth Muller (speaking of long-legged ballerinas) made the most of Arabian's hypnotic music. Harrison Ball was a very lanky Tea, dancing superbly, and Sean Suozzi's innate theatrical sense made his Candy Cane more than just an exercise in jumping thru a hoop. Alina Dronova's Marzipan looked fine; a small faux pas at the end of her solo was saved in an instinctive flash. As the corps de ballet girls emerged for the Waltz of the Flowers, my opera glasses were poised to follow their two delectable leaders: Rebecca Krohn and Amanda Hankes. I think the Waltz should be danced twice at every performance, once so I can follow Flower 'Left' and again to watch Flower 'Right'.
Teresa Reichlen (above) was the Dewdrop, sweeping along thru the waltz motifs and embellishing her large-scale dancing with delicate nuances of gesture and expression. It's nice to see a tall woman in this role, and Tess - with her truly grand grand jetes and floated attitude turns - is a delight.
Portraits of Maria and Tess by Henry Leutwyler.
THURSDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 8, 6 PM (Conductor: Hoskins+)
SUGARPLUM: Kowroski; CAVALIER: T. Angle; DEWDROP: Reichlen; HERR DROSSELMEIER: Hendrickson; MARZIPAN: Dronova; HOT CHOCOLATE: Lowery, la Cour; COFFEE: Muller; TEA: Ball++; CANDY CANE: Suozzi; MOTHER GINGER: Dieck; FLOWERS: Hankes, Krohn; DOLLS: Brown, Manzi; SOLDIER: Paradiso; MOUSE KING: J. Peck; DR & FRAU STAHLBAUM: Anderson, Danchig-Waring
For such a fine performance it was truly dismaying to see all the empty seats in the House today. The central section of the 4th Ring was very sparsely peopled for Act I; after the intermission some folks moved over from the side sections. Of course the 5th Ring, a favorite haunt for NUTZ devotees in the past, stood forlorn and abandoned. Empty seats on every level reminded me of the first seasons after 9/11 when people stopped going to opera and ballet. Many NYCB regulars are skipping NUTCRACKER altogether this season; myself, I'm hoping to go to another performance or two of the Balanchine classic, but it's just so expensive.