Anyone see Melissa Hamilton's Debut in Nutcracker?

[Don Q Fan]

I'd be interested to hear views from anyone who saw Melissa Hamilton's debut in Nutcracker with Sergei Polunin. Would have liked to see it myself but the logistics were not good for me. Would be grateful for any news/views.

Thanks

Edited December 25, 2011 by Don Q Fan

[annamk]

I saw her debut. She certainly looked the part: stunning and really elegant, not surprising since she's a very attractive girl. As for her dancing, well she got through it: cautiously it has to be said but that's understandable for a debut. The gargouillades looked fine to me although I wouldn't claim to be an expert but she struggled with her fouettes, not the number of them just doing them at all looked like a problem for her. At times in her variation the tempo of the music slowed almost to a standstill maybe that contributed to it not being a sparkling performance. The grand pdd was fine, it wasn't thrilling but again more than decent for a debut and if at times Polunin could have supported her more strongly there were no howlers. Polunin's variation was better than when I saw him recently in Beauty although I felt he wasn't as good as he can be.

Interesting to compare with Akane Takada's debut, they are very different dancers with very different strengths. I'd say Akane's debut showed a much stronger classical dancer than Melissa with much better technique. I see Melissa more likely to do better in MacMillan and contemporary dance. Akane's partner, Dawid T was disappointing: clumpy and inelegant, I don't think he was ready to dance at that level.

[Wulff]

I saw Melissa's debut, and I agree with annamk that she looked very elegant and took to the stage with confidence. There were no accidents, and she showed musicality in the pdd and in her variation. I thought Sergei was doing his very best to support her and get her through any difficult moments, but although his partnering has improved a lot over the past year or so, she might have done better with a stronger and more experienced partner. At present she still has problems with pirouettes and turns of all sorts. Supported pirouettes needed to be faster and better centred, and the final manege in her variation was taken rather slowly and she appeared to run out of steam at the end. The same went for the diagonal of fouettés in the coda - she performed them, but seemed to be flagging at the end. Nevertheless, the overall impression created by the pdd was good and it was very well received by the audience.

Melissa is a very determined young lady and very much wants to succeed in tutu roles. I am sure she is well aware of her weaknesses and will be working hard to overcome them. Her future performances should be interesting.

[annamk]

Wulff is spot on. Re the pirouettes, turns, and running out of steam, it's exactly what I thought but didn't quite get across.

[Don Q Fan]

Thank you both for your thoughts I am very grateful - the younger dancers like Melissa and Davvid have to start somewhere I guess and they both seem very promising for the future so I shall watch with interest!

[Bluebird]

Melissa and Sergei had their second performance this afternoon. I was also at their first and I think I can say that things went more smoothly this time. Poor Melissa had to cope with a crying child throughout her variation but it didn't seem to affect her. Wulff mentions problems with turns. These problems are still there but, apart from the fouettés, I thought I could see some improvement.

[Don Q Fan]

Good to hear things are improving! Many thanks.