Today, it is unthinkable for ballet companies around the world not to stage The Nutcracker. Yet when it premiered at the Maryinsky Theater in St. Petersburg in 1892, the critics trashed the show. It was only years later after Tchaikovsky’s suite of music from the ballet gained popularity did the ballet eventually received its due attention.
I was told years ago by an American dancer-choreographer that there is such a big demand for productions of this ballet in the United States that many dance companies make enough money from the show to be able to finance a year’s program. I hope this is also true in Manila, because our dance companies need all the assistance they can get.
I’ve seen The Nutcracker so many times before that I take it for granted most of the times. And it’s easy to do that. Tchaikovsky’s music keeps your interest up, and the Act II divertissement of dances is often enough reason to go to the theater.
Ballet Manila’s Vainonen version of The Nutcracker will most probably be the version many ballet goers know. There are countless other versions of this ballet that you can have your fill of the ballet and still be not full of it. I’ve read of a Freudian version of The Nutcracker, where Drosselmeyer and the Nutcracker Prince are one and the same character. Such tweaking of the ballet’s plot only takes out the fun in it. And what would The Nutcracker be if it’s not any fun?
Ballet Manila dishes out that and more in its latest production, running at the Star Theater until the weekend before Christmas day. You get that whole pantomime of children carousing at the party, a really ridiculous fight scene between the Nutcracker Prince and the Rat King that’s good – this is the only Nutcracker I’ve seen where the rats tease the toy soldiers by doing the bump-and-grind – a wonderful transformation from the Stahlbaum’s house to the snow kingdom and lots of great dancing.
Lisa Macuja-Elizalde as the Sugar Plum Fairy didn’t disappoint her fans. From her appearance in the transformation scene to her pas de deux with the Prince, essayed by Osias Barroso, she kept the audience at the edge of their seats, cheering her on.
Of course, Macuja-Elizalde’s performance derived its strength from her partnership with Barroso. They are in sync in terms of timing and execution that I sometimes wonder what would happen should they be partnered by others. As the Prince, he cut a fine figure on stage, regal in his dancing.
It is easy to overlook Act I of The Nutcracker because nothing much happens in this part of the ballet. All the dancing really happens in Act II. But you would miss all the good acting that Ballet Manila’s corps of dancers has perfected.
Company scholar Danica Rili was enchanting as Masha. She immersed herself in her role that you forget she’s still a young girl. Her leaps in the air were perfect and effortless, showing her training with Ballet Manila. Marcus Tolentino might have been a youngish Drosselmeyer, but he had no difficulty moving the story along. A lithe Drosselmeyer, he now takes the stage as one of BM’s leading dancers following the departure for opportunities abroad of many of the company’s senior soloists.
The Act II divertissement was a showcase of the range of talent BM possesses. The dances might be brief but they show off the dancers’ abilities. The dancers that night were: Chinese, Gabrielle Conde and Gerardo Francisco; Spanish, Eileen Lopez and Jerome Espejo; Arabian, Gabriella Galvez and Jonathan Janolo; Russian, Marian Faustino, Aldrin Villanueva and Sofia Sangco; and pas de trois, Bea Castañeda, Alvin Santos and Sarah Samaniego.
If you intend to reward yourself for being good this year, or you want the kids to make an acquaintance of the ballet, Ballet Manila’s production of The Nutcracker would be a good choice. After two hours at the theater, you could reward yourself further with the variety of rides offered at Star City. And that’s a wonderful bonus for the holidays.