Saturday Matinee

I saw this wonderful performance last night at Zellerbach Hall, at the courtesy of Rachel Howard, dance correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle (Thanks Rachel!). As a fellow Nutcracker lover (we’re not jaded like so many other balletomanes), it was great to be put under the spell of the Nutcracker once again. I have been hesitant to see “trendy” version of the classic Nutcracker; I’ve loved the ballet since I was a little girl! Of course, I was being silly because Morris always bring a new perspective on a classic piece, full of humor and humanity, and would create a whole new piece that’s not just “fluff”. There is so much to love about this production, but just don’t expect another version of Morris’ delightful (and my personal favorite) Mozart Dances. As expected, the camp was out in full force, which made a really really fun first act (the act which usually the children get to portray their talents and are quickly ushered off stage before the snow scene when the “real” dancing begins), but during the Waltz of the Flowers, began to seem a bit Trockadero-ish. The several instances which made sly homages to the other kind of nuts (besides walnuts) was a bit childish? but funny maybe the first time. But I think I’m getting a bit ahead of myself.

Humanity abounds in this piece, and with the spectacular acting of his modern dancers (who knew?), esp. Lauren Grant–who balances humor and subtelty so well (she never attempts to get “cheap” laughs, even when wearing a horrendous pink frilly nightgown complete with bunnies on her pointe shoes) and always dances with such compassion and ease, June Omura –as Fritz, looking like a mischievous Alfalfa imbibing her steps with great acting, humor and pathos (Fritz waving at the TV at his sister was particularly touching), and Julie Worden, playing the hypersexual adolescent Louise at the Christmas party, imbibing even the smallest dance steps with chest shimmies, pelvic thrusts…little actions you would totally miss if you weren’t watching but making her characterization of Louise so…dare I say it?…deep… It was great to see such acting especially in the first act of the Nutcracker. Mark Morris makes a hilarious cameo as the drunk uncle, sporting a fro which looks particularly striking on him (perhaps a future consideration for a haircut, Mr. Morris?)

I love Morris’ use of gender bending characters; the mom is played by a male dancer, male snowflakes and flowers, pointe shoe wearing male dancer as the maid…I love it because MOrris does what he always does; makes us look at “traditional” gender roles and puts them in a new light. Morris rarely does this in a way to point out obviously “Look, it’s a guy in a dress”, but he portrays these characters in such a normative manner, it’s like “Why didn’t we think of this before?” Marie’s “dad” was much shorter than Marie’s “mom”, but it didn’t look “weird”–as the fact that both were played by male dancers– but gave a new look to the Christmas scene that was refreshing to see, and more reflective of the real world. There were a few instances in which I thought that dancers played to the audience too much, smiling widely as if to say “this is supposed to be funny”, which I felt really took away from the piece (Ahem, the Waltz of the Flowers scene). John Heginbotham as “Mrs. Staulbaum” was lovely, beginning the ballet with a delightful homage to ballet, doing a perfect port de bras, a slow preparation into a pirouette, recognizable to any ballet student, garnering audience applause from those were have spent time in the dance studio.

The music was supplied by a great orchestra (The Berkeley Symphony Orchestra supplemented by musicians from the symphony/opera orchestras), except for a obvious trombone mistake during the Waltz of the Flowers. (Personally, I thought they sounded better than the NYCB ballet orchestra.) The Piedmond Children’s Choir was pitch perfect during the snowflake scene, I loved how many choristers were smiling and almost laughing at the craziness of the snowflakes dancing on the stage. Again, thanks to Mark Morris who always insists on high quality music for all of his productions. (No canned music here).

So many thoughts about this piece, but mostly, just wanted to end saying that the snowflake scene is the best piece of all. The only snowflake dance where I feel the dancers aren’t incredibly bored the whole time, (It actually looks super fun to be a Morris Hard Nut snowflake!), you couldn’t tell who was male/female but who cares, the oh-so-musical throwing of the snow was brilliant (my favorite being the puff of snow that comes from the wings, perfectly on beat, of course), making the piece look a bit like a snow firecracker show. SO much fun, without going for the cheap laughs but allows the dance to communicate humor and charm to the audience. Morris does this so perfectly in the snowflake scene.

And while I do miss the solid dancing from Morris’ other pieces, this was a brilliant new perspective on the classic Nutcracker ballet. What a fun, campy, night! I walked to the BART station with Loren Tayerle, a french horn player in the Berkeley Symphony, chatting about working with Mark Morris and being a musician (one perk to playing at Zellerbach, french horns can see what’s happening on stage!). The holidays really seem to begin once I’ve seen the Nutcracker. Although this isn’t your run of the mill Nut, this is a great and unique start to the Christmas season.