GEORGE BALANCHINE'S THE NUTCRACKER
McCaw Hall
December 3, 2021
I first saw choreographer George Balanchine's The Nutcracker in 1980, at the State Theater in New York City's Lincoln Center. My most vivid memory of that experience is of the magical Christmas tree that grows before your eyes from a regular size—like the one so many of us have in our living rooms during the holidays—to a huge, mythic tree that dwarfs everything and everyone around it. Because it transforms slowly to Tchaikovsky's mesmerizing music, the miracle is even more exciting. Our normal world slowly shrinks as the tree grows, reducing the dancers—and the viewers—to the size of toy soldiers and stuffed animals. An optical illusion carries us away to a magical world of dancing snowflakes and sugarplum fairies.
The fact that I've remembered this theatrical wonder for 41 years is a testament to Balanchine's astonishing and delightful showmanship. Though the production has been restaged all over the world with different sets, costumes, and dancers, Balanchine's wonderful ballet has remained the same since its first production in 1954. His repetiteurs—former dancers who have learned all the steps and can teach them to others—travel to ballet companies everywhere to make sure this great work is produced the way "Mr. B" intended.
Pacific Northwest Ballet has one of the very best productions of this famous work for two reasons: when he was just ten years old, the artistic director of PNB, Peter Boal, danced the role of the Little Prince (the Nutcracker brought to life and transformed into a hero). Mr. Balanchine himself taught the steps to young Boal, who went on to become a principal dancer at the New York City Ballet before coming to Seattle in 2005. Boal is a repetiteur of Balanchine's choreography and teaches at the School of American Ballet, where he was originally trained—so we know that we're seeing the work in as pure a form as is possible in the absence of the great choreographer himself, who died in 1983.
The second reason PNB has one of the best productions ever is that the sets, costumes, and production values were entirely reimagined when Balanchine's The Nutcracker replaced PNB's charming but outdated Maurice Sendak/Kent Stowell version that was beloved by Seattleites for 31 years. For the new version, premiered in 2015, children's book writer and illustrator Ian Falconer designed a charming, colorful world—set in the mythical beauty of an American town of the late 19th century—and introduced by a distinctly modern video that carries you into that world in a delightfully surprising way. I'm willing to bet that no other Nutcracker in the country—or the world—has the fresh, magical charm of PNB's production, which will surely last another 31 years, if not longer.
I had the distinct pleasure of bringing a seven-year-old and her mother to the production this year, and though you don't need a child in tow to enjoy the delights of this ballet—which brings out your own inner child—it's fascinating to see how a youngster reacts to seeing a troupe of kids her own age dancing on stage alongside adults. The Disneyfication of childhood is in full swing, blunting the sense of wonder in kids who stream Frozen on a daily basis, so it's great to see a child register the reality of a production with real live people, a real live orchestra, and a real live audience.
My young friend was sparkling with pleasure, brimming with questions, and fully attentive. Her favorites were "the girl in the green dress" (Juliet Prine as Dewdrop), and "the mouse with all the heads" (Miles Pertl doing double duty as Dr. Stahlbaum and the twelve-headed Mouse king). She also liked looking into the orchestra pit at intermission and seeing all the instruments as well as "the man who waves his arms like this" (here she imitated conductor Josh Archibald-Seiffer). The intermission cupcake was a hit, as well as Sarah Sze's hanging sculpture made of hardware—"Look! It's got a water bottle!" But the best part, in my opinion, was that she and her mother saw an opera house for the first time, heard un-mediated music and saw their first ballet. These experiences expand a child's frame of reference forever (and a grown-up's too).
My own favorite moment—the one I look forward to year after year—is the "Waltz of the Flowers." Fourteen beautiful dancers in vivid petal-shaped skirts accompany the Dewdrop soloist, whose elegant, athletic leaps and pirouettes are framed by the cavalcade of Flowers in ever-evolving formations. The words "kaleidoscopic" and "military precision" come to mind, but nothing describes the beauty of this dance—six minutes and twenty seconds of the most charming vision you can imagine. While the Dewdrop is the center attraction, Balanchine has given the Flowers the most memorable moments as they form and re-form into patterns, their arms aloft like airy wands, their feet like points of light in a constellation of pure loveliness.
Listen, if you've gotten this far into this review, you need to go see Balanchine's The Nutcracker for yourself. If you've seen it before, see it again. It never gets old. And bring a child, a teenager, your bestie, your spouse, your mom and dad—anyone whose company you cherish. McCaw Hall did a great job with safety: social distancing, spaces between seats, and everyone in masks, including the children dancing on stage. (This last was a great touch: the premise was that the grownups were vaccinated, despite the time period, but the children hadn't had their shots yet and wore masks that matched their costumes.) This damned pandemic has us all feeling like...well, like we need a big lift. Seize the moment and the joy of PNB's great seasonal gift to Seattle.
Balanchine's The Nutcracker is in performance at McCaw Hall through December 28, 2021. For tickets and more information, see https://pnb.org/ or call (206) 441-2435.