The Royal Ballet: The Nutcracker, London, November 2016

[zxDaveM]

In celebration of Peter Wright's 90th birthday, The Royal Ballet present his 'Nutcracker' for the festive season (opening late November and running through to mid January). I was at one of the dress rehearsals, featuring the debut of Francesca Hayward, as SPF.
 
Here are a few photos:
 

Anna Rose O'Sullivan
© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr


Yasmine Naghdi
© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr


Francesca Hayward
© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

See more...

Set from DanceTabs: RB - Nutcracker 2016
Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr
By kind permission of the Royal Opera House

[zxDaveM]

PS - this cast performs the matinees on Nov 29th and Dec 24th. And both are of course sold out. Lucky people with tickets, I say!

[WoodlandGladeFairy]

PS - this cast performs the matinees on Nov 29th and Dec 24th. And both are of course sold out. Lucky people with tickets, I say!

One of those lucky people is me ???? Am really looking forward to seeing Francesca Hayward on 29th Nov, one of my favourite dancers

Edited November 24, 2016 by WoodlandGladeFairy

[Sim]

One of those lucky people is me.

 

 

 

And me!

[capybara]

PS - this cast performs the matinees on Nov 29th and Dec 24th. And both are of course sold out. Lucky people with tickets, I say!

 

........ and, if this cast still has Yasmine Naghdi as the Rose Fairy, my cup will be overflowing.

[Lindsay]

Francesca was very good as Clara last night, Alexander Campbell's mime solo received a round of applause for the amazingly precise jumps and I think the Sugar Plum pas de deux was one of the best performances I have ever seen Lauren give.  There was also a presentation on stage at the end to mark Sir Peter's birthday.

[Fonty]

Shame that the truly horrible wig is still in place for the SPF.

[Lindsay]

True. But on the positive side, the offensive Chinese dance has been replaced.

[Scheherezade]

True. But on the positive side, the offensive Chinese dance has been replaced.

What has it been replaced with?

[Legseleven]

What has replaced the Chinese dance, Lindsay? I love the music for that although I agree that it isn't PC.

[Lindsay]

Same music, and some of the same steps (now for two dancers) but the more stereotypical elements of the choreography and costumes have been expunged.  No more finger pointing, 'cutesy' side to side rocking steps or gurning.  They seem to be playing it straight rather than for laughs.  

 

The new choreography wasn't outstanding but I was very relieved to avoid what was always a very uncomfortable moment.  And if "PC" means avoiding what came perilously close to 'yellowface' then that's fine by me.

[Jillykins]

Last night was an amazing evening for me. I took my seven year old great grandson to Nutcracker, his first ballet. First visit to Opera Housea. His reactions were all I could have hoped for. Dinner at Tuttons where he was treated like a young prince, wide eyed viewing of ballet and view from gallery outside. The production was great, I was certainly not in the mood to be critical! Francesca and Alexander worked so well together and the choreography really suited them. The applause for the mime was well deserved. Lauren was a perfect SPF. So versatile now, such a change from last week! Lost cast sheet in the excitement of holding small hand so Disney get name of lovely Rose Fairy. I agree Chinese dance much more of a comfortable/ enjoyable watch. A pity the snowflakes pointe shoes sound a bit thunderous but they wove some beautiful patterns. I missed a lot of detail as in amphi and eyes not too good! However a great start to Christmas for grandma and Jakie!

[MargaretN7]

Is this the first time we've had Clara and the Nutcracker both Principals?

I think when Alina and Ivan did it that was before they were principals.

[MrsBBB]

Lost cast sheet in the excitement of holding small hand so Disney get name of lovely Rose Fairy.

The Rose Fairy was danced by Yuhui Choe.

[Jillykins]

Thank you Mrs BBB, she was delightful. Glad to know who she was but I didn't recognise her. Blame the wig!

[FLOSS]

I think that it may well be the first time that both Clara and Hans-Peter  have been danced by principal dancers. Of course the casting was announced before the promotions were, but Kevin must have known who  he was going to promote to Principal and all the other promotions at that point. The casting for last night's performance was a very interesting mixture of established dancers and those who promise a great deal for the future.It included the three young men most likely to become Principal dancers and at least one of the women who has a very strong claim to that position.

 

When the production was new Clara was danced by a student. Now the role has been built up quite considerably and as a result Clara  has to be technically strong as she dances the Merliton's choreography and some of the Rose Fairy's as well. It seemed to me that there were more senior dancers on stage than usual and also a significant number of the "up and coming" on stage as well..Last night's Rose Fairy was Choe, her escorts were Ball,Hay,Mock and Zucchetti while the leading flowers were Calvert, Crawford,Kobayashi and Stix-Brunell.

 

At the end of the performance the students who appear in the ballet were given a curtain call and were on stage when Sir Peter's  was presented with a "special" medal. I know that they used to give singers a silver medal for appearing with the company over a twenty five year period. There was no requirement of continuous service. I was there when Dame Joan Sutherland received hers. I don't know whether that custom survives as very few singers appear with the company over that length of time. I don't know whether they do the same thing for dancers and, if they do, if they demand continuous service or whether service with SWRB / BRB counts towards the number of years served.I don't think that Leanne Benjamin was with the Covent Garden company long enough to receive one. As to the nature of the metal from which the medal was made I don't know.It ought to be gold for fifty years service and something even more valuable for longer service. It was not really clear to me, at least, the precise basis  on which the award was being made but there were several references to "services to the Royal Ballet family ".Sir Peter was clearly very moved. His repose was not that eloquent or coherent but he did express considerable gratitude for what he had learnt from  de Valois and Ashton and said that their work should be remembered There was a flower throw..

 

I shall say something about the performance at a later date when I have seen a few more casts.

Edited November 24, 2016 by FLOSS

[capybara]

 The casting for last night's performance was a very interesting mixture of established dancers and those who promise a great deal for the future.It included the three young men most likely to become Principal dancers and at least one of the women who has a very strong claim to that position.

 

 

Which dancers are you thinking of FLOSS?

[FLOSS]

I don't have time to list everyone who was on stage last night  but the three men who I think are the strongest candidates for promotion to Principal dancer are Ball, Clarke and Hay, although I think that Hay has to develop greater strength in partnering. Among the women on stage last night the stand out candidate for promotion is Stix-Brunell who has a strong stage presence as well as a good, clean technique. Choe is small and neat but she has a very pallid stage personality.

Edited November 24, 2016 by FLOSS

[billboyd]

Delighted - though not surprised - to read of Alexander Campbell's splendid performance! Less happy to read of the clapping after the mime.

[Beryl H]

There's a glowing 5 star review from the Times and a photo of Alexander Campbell, I always like the mime that he does at the beginning of Act 2 for some reason, it must come from the original production as Marian Walter does it in the reconstructed Berlin version.

[FLOSS]

In her review in the Evenong Standard Lynsey Winship writes somewhat dismissively of the RB' s version of this ballet as a refuge from 2016, a ballet for family outings and baby ballerinas and an escape from the real world as if the Christmas audience.should be demanding more rigorously challenging intellectual fare for its annual theatre outing.  I know that she seems to prefer more earnest choreographic offerings than those provided in Sir Peter's Nutcracker. While it is true that it is not good to exist on a choreographic diet of sirupy,sweet stories told in bland, instantly forgettable,uninspired choreography, a dance diet of the extreme, the earnest and the humourless  is equally detrimental. I think that the only fit response to the advocates of an exclusive diet of  challenging relevant ballets with cutting edge choreography is that cakes and ale are as important to the life of the ballet goer as the "virtue" that some  think is to be derived from sitting through the latest earnest dance work using a dance vocabulary as far removed from classical dance that you can devise.

Edited November 25, 2016 by FLOSS

[MAB]

Lyndsey Winship is a first rate reviewer of modern dance but sadly seems to have no empathy for ballet at all.  I can think of a number of critics that are just the reverse.

[Two Pigeons]

As I remember it Clara was originally played by a member of the company. At the premier it was Julie Rose who was a replacement for the original first choice Alessandra Ferri who had jumped shop for greater stardom in America.

 

Fairly soon afterwards the role was danced by a student for a period but then reverted to a company member.

 

At BRB Clara has always been danced by a company member, starting with principal Sandra Madgwick. However, from the start the BRB Clara was always a more significant role.

[LinMM]

I'm just wondering that as it does seem to have become traditional Christmas fare ......that unless it's an actual new production ....is there any real need to do a big critical job on the Nutcracker? Apart from possibly assessing new dancers in the main role?

 

Personally, even though it's not my favourite ballet, I still find something rather comforting when that overture strikes up and even though I know I'm going to be vaguely irritated by the soldier and mouse battle thing I always look forward to that wonderful lilting ( usually duet) music towards the end just before snowflakes. And then there's the sparkly snowflakes with the snow and real choir singing.....just love it. And in the interval you know you've got a few rousing dances and a nice bendy Arabian (well usually) and Sugar Plum pas de deux to look forward to. And then all the excited little girls in their party frocks so very often nice audience buzz too...what's not to like!!

 

I think over the years for one reason or another have seen Nutcracker more than any other ballet and do split it between the Royal and ENB and although do give it a miss some years I never get completely tired of it partly due to Tchaikovsky's beautiful music.

 

I was planning to give it a miss this year ........well, after seeing the wonderfully staged and flowing Mikhailovsky version recently ....although may dash a long at the last minute to catch Rina Kanehara in the ENB version as happen to be in London that day!!

 

Long may it continue. I do agree with FLOSS in this instance that it's okay for Dance not to be deadly serious ALL the time ....a bit of cakes and ale is fine too.

[alison]

I was planning to give it a miss this year ........well, after seeing the wonderfully staged and flowing Mikhailovsky version recently ....although may dash a long at the last minute to catch Rina Kanehara in the ENB version as happen to be in London that day!!

 

Several people think that would be a very sensible thing to do

[MAB]

Without any doubt Nutcracker is my favourite Tchaikovsky score being far more atmospheric than the other two in my view and I feel I know it intimately after being press ganged into a stint as sound technician for a week of performances in Spain a few years ago. 

 

One of the greatest ballet performances I've ever seen in my life was a Kirov Nutcracker in Baden Baden danced by Irina Zhelonkina and Anton Korsakov, so perfect I wept.

 

Productions do vary a lot and some bear repeated viewings more than others, dramatically I still consider Nureyev's the best.  They still dance it in Paris but in a slightly different version, there should be a recording of Park and Nureyev in the old RB version about, worth taking a look at.

[Jan McNulty]

I'm just wondering that as it does seem to have become traditional Christmas fare ......that unless it's an actual new production ....is there any real need to do a big critical job on the Nutcracker? Apart from possibly assessing new dancers in the main role?

 

 

 

 

 

Possibly because most people don't go multiple times in multiple years as many members of this board do and would like to hear what professional critics think.

[Jan McNulty]

There's a glowing 5 star review from the Times and a photo of Alexander Campbell, I always like the mime that he does at the beginning of Act 2 for some reason, it must come from the original production as Marian Walter does it in the reconstructed Berlin version.

 

It will also be included in the links tomorrow:

 

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/times2/dance-the-nutcracker-covent-garden-l7fxqgdzt

 

Don't forget you need to register and you can get 2 free articles a week or a month (can't remember off hand).

[Tatiana]

I have a ticket for the 29th, very much looking forward to it Doesn't feel like Christmas is coming until I've seen a Nutcracker!

[FLOSS]

Mab, I agree with you about the production of Nutcracker which Nureyev staged for the RB in the 1960's it was great fun with all the doubling up of characters which increased as the years passed so that members of the family turned up in the act 2 divertisements in various guises. That version struck the right balance between virtuosity and character dancing. Somehow Nureyev's later versions seem to depend too much on technique for its own sake and while I enjoy watching a technical minefield which looks simple and elegant in performance I am not so keen on choreography which looks as if it has been  devised to be the balletic equivalent of a show jumping course.

 

I always thought that one of the reasons why the Nureyev production was dropped was because the company ran out of dancers who could do the choreography justice..I know that I was very disappointed by the current production when I saw it at the premiere. I was inclined to agree with de Valois who was reported to have said that she could not understand why the company had abandoned the Nureyev production. I know that there is an interview in which she said that she did not care  whether most of the choreography came from the Kirov as Nureyev's version  was the best one she knew. Well thirty six years later Sir Peter's production has acquired the patina of age and in some families it must be on something like its third generation of children for whom it a first experience of ballet.  

 

As far as the Nureyev production is concerned it can be found on a region 1 DVD, as can Ashton's Cinderella with Sibley and Dowell as Cinderella and her Prince, on the Kultur label I think, What I liked most about the Nureyev production was the way that the second act divertisements were handled.The choreography for the Clara and her Prince was spectacular but the section that sticks in my memory most is the Arabian dance in which Alexander Grant fed Gerd Larsen and his other wives from a large dish while they were entertained by two dancers who  subsequently stole his purse. 

Edited November 25, 2016 by FLOSS

[alison]

Somehow Nureyev's later versions seem to depend too much on technique for its own sake and while I enjoy watching a technical minefield which looks simple and elegant in performance I am not so keen on choreography which looks as if it has been  devised to be the balletic equivalent of a show jumping course.

 

Or worse still, a puissance event.  I like the simile, FLOSS

[Fonty]

I have the DVD of the original 1960s Nureyev Nutcracker, with Nureyev dancing with Merle Park. I know others have said that it seems very complicated and difficult, particularly the 2nd act PDD, but I like it very much.  I like the way none of the music is wasted. 

 

I remember my mother talking about this production, and how she saw all the main couples dance.  Her all time favourites were Sibley and Dowell, but she said she very much enjoyed Beriosova in this production.  I've got a feeling she also mentioned Doreen Wells as being very good as well. 

 

Edited to add that none of the productions I have seen have ever done a SPF variation that I actually enjoy!

Edited November 25, 2016 by Fonty

[capybara]

I don't feel that the problems with the Chinese dance have been entirely overcome.

 

Very disappointing that the caricatures of the grandparents have not been adjusted.