The Royal Ballet: The Nutcracker, London, November 2016

[JohnS]

Thank you Capybara and bridiem - must have been a magical Christmas Eve bringing back memories of the 29 November performance we were fortunate enough to attend. Hopefully tomorrow's Nutcracker documentary will have plenty of footage of Francesca, Anna Rose et al in their Nutcracker preparations and performance. The excerpts posted yesterday were brilliant.

[Coated]

Today's matinee was the perfect way to start Christmas Eve for me. I thought O'Sullivan was beautiful as Clara, with so many little touches - a smile here, a glance there - to flesh out the character and perfectly paired with Hay.

 

Francesca Hayward showed why she has become such a young principal. She might not quite yet have the gravitas that comes from experience to completely own the stage as Sugar Plum Fairy, but she can't be much more than a run or 2 or nuts away from developing it in spades. Her dancing was beautiful and joyous and the same time, she and Cambell were a very enjoyable pair.

 

And the most smouldering Arabian dance goes to Tierney Heap - she practically sizzled her way through the performance, loved it.

 

And a special mention to the little girl (maybe 5) and her mother who were standing next to me. I still think it's a little insane, but her mother managed to carry her at 'viewing height' through the entire performance. I really hope she didn't do her back in. They were rather sweet together and the daughter seemed to really enjoy it, so maybe it was worth a potential future visit to the osteopath.

[Sim]

I was there too and agree with your assessment, Coated. I will be very surprised if Anna-Rose isn't promoted at the end of the season!

 

Agree also about Tierney. Yesterday she gave a very good performance as Lilac, and today she smouldered and was slinky and sexy. Facially she reminds me of a young Faye Dunaway.

 

And thank you Alex Campbell for spending your 30th birthday dancing for us!

[alison]

How can he be 30 already?!

[zxDaveM]

After watching her dance SPF this evening, I'm all the more mystified that Yasmine Naghdi is not yet a Principal

[Tony Newcombe]

Patience Dave. It will happen

[Aklf]

I agree- she was absolutely superb! What a brilliant performance all around.

[Bruce Wall]

After watching her dance SPF this evening, I'm all the more mystified that Yasmine Naghdi is not yet a Principal

 

Surely it can't be long for her and her exquisite partner.  The musicality of both tonight virtually glistened.  Her phrasing toyed with Tchaikovsky in a most delightful way in that heart rendering SPF solo.  Also loved Sambe as Hans Peter.  The stealth of his partnering - such a vital art - was every bit as potent as his life enriching grin.  For all, a triumph.  

Edited December 27, 2016 by Bruce Wall

[Nina G.]

Just back from tonight's Nutcracker and I am left speechless and totally bowled over by Yasmine Naghdi's Sugar Plum Fairy and her most charming Prince, Matthew Ball. What a pair these two dancers are!

 

Miss Naghdi's performance tonight turned her into a fully fletched ballerina: her lyrical style and elegance so beautiful to watch, she was in total control of every step and movement and she looked so relaxed. She really commanded the stage. Was this really her debut?

They last danced it at a School's Matinee in November; such a shame the audience only gets to see them once. Matthew Ball was every inch the Prince, great execution of his solo and the Grand pas de deux was simply stunning! The couple looked as if they had danced it all before. Such a beautiful pair they are and I can't wait to see them together again in SB. The applause they received after their first pas de deux seemed to go on forever. I can only imagine what these two young dancers will be capable of in a few years time.

 

Marcelino Sambe was also superb as The Nutcracker and Lukas Bkorneboe Braendsrod a strong Mouse King. I also loved Paul Kay in the Russian Dance but tonight certainly belonged to Naghdi/Ball! 

[simonbfisher]

I agree with everything that Nina G writes above, and would add that Bennet Gartside was a superb Drosselmeyer - he was charismatic (without overshadowing the work going on around him as we have occasionally seen with A N Other Drosselmeyer), energetic, humourous at times, on top of his magic, and showed as usual his ability to project right out into the auditorium. A really excellent performance.

[Melody]

It sounds as though the Royal Ballet is enjoying one of its periodic high points - and with largely home-grown dancers too! It's so wonderful to read about all the strength in depth the company is currently experiencing.

[JohnS]

Thank you all for the reviews of what must have been a magical evening. So pleased for Yasmine and Matthew in their public debut and also that Bennet was dancing after his recent minor operation on his big toes. Very sorry not to have been able to attend the performance but 27 December is very high risk for long distance public transport. It's a shame Yasmine and Matthew only had one public performance but I guess this all underscores what a difficult task Kevin O'Hare has in casting the Royal Ballet's enormous talent.

[Sim]

A truly superb debut by both Yasmine and Matthew last night. You simply could not believe that this was their official debut. I can only echo the sentiments of the previous posters. We are so lucky to see a sort of 'British revival' going on in the RB....the products of the RBS now coming into their own and showing how marvelous British-trained dancers can be.

 

Yasmine always dances from her heart, as well as from her body, and this whole package is always technically wonderful and emotionally moving. You can see how much she adores what she is doing, no matter what the role. She has a rare and innate classicism, and I would go so far as to say that she (for me, anyway) will be THE go-to ballerina for the classical repertoire in the coming years. As she wasn't cast in Two Pigeons last year I would love to see her in a leading Ashton role. I am imagining Titania for starters, with Matthew as Oberon. Sigh.

 

Matthew is a true prince; the way he partners his ballerina so attentively and looks so proud of her, the way he executed his solos, his natural, regal bearing....all this complements Yasmine perfectly, and I truly hope that this partnership will continue to deepen and thrive.

 

I also agree about Bennet Gartside's Drosselmeyer; he pitched it just right: not over the top, but not so understated that he didn't make any impact. He was moving, he was fun, and he clearly relished this role. What an excellent dance-actor he is.

 

Marcellino Sambe was an excellent Hans Peter; such jumps and turns, and good partnering into the mix! Leticia Stock was fine as Clara, but was suffering from a cold. She was having to surreptitiously blow her nose whenever she could. Good for her for going on anyway.

 

I was also at the afternoon performance, which saw the debuts of Beatriz Stix-Brunell and Nicol Edmonds, as well as Isabella Gasparini and Benjamin Ella as Clara and HP.

 

Beatriz is beautiful and regal and a lovely presence on the stage. She made a very good debut but was clearly a bit nervous at first. However, she soon relaxed into it and I loved watching her. Her solo variation, and her fouettees, were really well done. This was their first performance of the roles anywhere, so I think they both acquitted themselves very well. I was very impressed with how far Nicol has come with his dancing since his recent injury. His landings are clean and soft; no wobbles at all (even Ball had a couple of slightly dodgy landings last night), and his partnering is very classy. He seems in love with his ballerina the way he looks at her so intensely, and wants so much to present her properly and also to take care of her. He too has a naturally regal presence on the stage.

 

Gasparini and Ella danced very well together, and it is again credit to Kevin O' Hare that he gave the more junior members a chance at meaty roles, and once again his faith in them was repaid in spades. I was particularly impressed with Ella; again, lovely jumping and turning and partnering.

 

Talking of jumping....David Yudes. Wow. Just wow.

 

Seeing both performances yesterday gave me the chance to see a panoply of young dancers in action and, considering that not one of them is yet a principal of the company, it is looking like the RB is in great shape for the next years to come.

[capybara]

It felt like a long time waiting for them to come on (although Marcellino Sambe was an excellent Hans Peter). But then the curtain went up on Act 2 and the radiant smiles of Yasmine Naghdi and Matthew Ball welcomed us all into their kingdom.

 

Their pdd adagio looked beautiful: stylish, musical , expressive and secure and the thunderous reception they received for that said everything. Their partnership is truly reciprocal and I loved the way they related with real courtesy and pleasure towards one another as well as to the audience as they took the applause.

 

Matthew’s solo had real panache and elegance. Yasmine’s SPF was a delicate delight, each step delicious and each arm movement gracious.

The coda was as exhilarating as it should be with an energetic manege from him and some lovely travelling fouttees from her.

 

So, all in all, a joy and another performance to treasure.

[Josephine]

Lovely to read these vivid reviews by Sim, Nina G and simonbfisher. Also capybara's, which I've just seen. It was a fabulous day, giving a wealth of exceptional debuts. I loved especially the warmth and grandeur Beatriz Stix-Brunell gave to Sugar Plum Fairy. She and Nicol Edmonds impressed in a very beautiful partnership, and I hope to see more.

 

Personally think Bennet Gartside is RB's finest Drosselmeyer, giving the role both darkness and benevolence, and clearly conveying the enormity of Drosselmeyer's task in summoning supernatural forces.

Edited December 28, 2016 by Josephine

[alison]

Leticia Stock was fine as Clara, but was suffering from a cold. She was having to surreptitiously blow her nose whenever she could. Good for her for going on anyway.

 

So surreptitious that I didn't notice at all

[Sim]

We noticed, with our binoculars!

[Nina G.]

A truly superb debut by both Yasmine and Matthew last night. You simply could not believe that this was their official debut. I can only echo the sentiments of the previous posters. We are so lucky to see a sort of 'British revival' going on in the RB....the products of the RBS now coming into their own and showing how marvelous British-trained dancers can be.

 

Seeing both performances yesterday gave me the chance to see a panoply of young dancers in action and, considering that not one of them is yet a principal of the company, it is looking like the RB is in great shape for the next years to come.

 

 

It has been said before and was reinforced in my mind when watching the Nutcracker (Naghdi/Ball). Since Mr O'Hare took over the reins of The Royal Ballet company it has gone from strength to strength. The corps de ballet, since Samantha Raine took over from the previous ballet mistress, has improved beyond recognition! On numerous occasions I have found the corps dancers to be exceptional; they used to be a mixed bag but now they look beautifully unified. They were a dream to watch and most gorgeous as Snowflakes!

 

Under previous management the company was too top heavy, with a generally unexciting soloist and first soloist rank, followed by an unremarkable corps de ballet. One would go to the ballet only to see Rojo, Benjamin, Acosta, Cojocaru, Nunez but that was it. 

Mr O'Hare changed all that and he gave contracts to the very best coming out of the School... He no longer bought in foreign dancers and quickly developed his young dancers from the bottom upwards. We can all witness the result. The very best of British trained dancers are now carrying the flag and turning the RB into a truly national company, and a showcase for outstanding British ballet training. The Company has never looked that good and is so very exciting to watch. 

 

When two young dancers (Naghdi/Ball), not even Principals (yet) already have both their SB performances sold out says enough. A whole new and exciting generation of British trained dancers are shaping the Company, from the gorgeous Reece Clark and Matthew Ball to the exquisitely classical Yasmine Naghdi and very charming Francesca Hayward, each one of them outstanding in their own right.

 

Bravo Mr. O'Hare for putting so much faith in your young dancers. Imagine the Company in a few years time when all that talent has come to maturity.

 

...and let's also not forget ALL the wonderful British dancers at BRB!!! 

[hfbrew]

Yasmine Naghdi and Francesca Haywood were actually taken into the company before Mr O'Hare became director as was Anna Rose O Sullivan.

 

However I totally agree that its wonderful that Mr O Hare is developing the talents of the younger members of the company, many of them British trained.

 

And its not just BRB who also have British trained talent, there are many at Northern too as well other companies.

[Scheherezade]

Remarkably, this was the first time that I have been able to see Matthew and Yasmine dance together (apart, I think, from Onegin during the last run?) and I have to say that, even allowing for the many wonderful reviews for this partnership on this forum, I was totally unprepared for the beauty and sincerity of their performance. It is many, many years since a purely classical performance has almost brought a tear to my eye but this one did. There was a lot of excitement in the cheap seats at the front of the amphitheatre and, my goodness, it was well deserved! Bravo indeed!

[zxDaveM]

Yasmine Naghdi and Francesca Haywood were actually taken into the company before Mr O'Hare became director as was Anna Rose O Sullivan.

 

However I totally agree that its wonderful that Mr O Hare is developing the talents of the younger members of the company, many of them British trained.

 

 

Yes, he does seem to be giving the youngsters a chance to shine (and shine they do!). The only minor niggle is the uneven exposure to the critics some of them get when they are given a chance to debut in a major role. That reflects on the coverage (and award nominations) they get. The ones that do get that extra exposure are certainly worthy of it, its just that others that are equally so, do not. Still, that does mean we keep some of our favourites for ourselves, for just a little longer...   :-)

[Nina G.]

It has baffled me too how very uneven RB and little Press exposure said dancer is being given (besides Country Life...). Why?

She is a dancer many, including myself, have come to greatly admire for her classical beauty, equally for her interpretative and dramatic talent as seen in roles such as Olga, Juliet, the Invitation, and most recently in "Anastasia" as Mathilde K., to name just a few. I hope what Sim said is not self-fulfilling prophecy  

[FLOSS]

I think that before we talk about "other directors"  failing to recruit and develop young British dancers we need to remind ourselves what that "other director " had to deal with on taking over the directorship. We need to remember that at one point during the 1990's the future of the Royal Ballet was so uncertain that a group of rather talented young men took themselves off to Japan where one of them established K Ballet. Gary Avis is the only one who returned. The loss of those young men and Adam Cooper's decision to go into the commercial theatre knocked a bit of a hole in the company's ranks as did the premature departure of a number of female principals during the 1990's.Those sort of gaps create challenges for any director. Whatever I may think about Dowell as a director his tenure had all the problems which any director must expect to face plus a few specially hand crafted ones connected with the closure of the House and the questions raised about the company's financial viability and its long term future.At one point here was a suggestion that it should cease to be a full time company with all the usual on-costs and adopt the ABT business model. Ashtons falling out with Dowell over the latter's new Swan Lake which cut all of his additional choreography; the variable quality of the company's revivals; questions about its financial viability; its long term future, and its itinerant status during the closure all contributed to a significant reduction in the range of repertory which the company performed. The state of the school was a cause of further difficulties. These were the problems which  Stretton's appointment was supposed to solve.

 

During his short time as director Stretton only managed to make matters worse.Neither his disregard for the company's historic repertory nor his own repertory choices were much appreciated.They did little to lift the company's spirits.which were further depressed by his decision to sideline well liked dancers whose seniority or repertory, did not fit into his plans for the company's future. Some dancers chose to sit out his directorship as they did not believe it would last long others,like Wildor, chose to leave the company

 

The appointment of Stretton's successor transformed the company overnight turning it from a dispirited group of dancers who did not appear that happy to be on stage to one that obviously enjoyed being there and what they were doing but there were gaps in the ranks and they had to be filled.We could argue about whether Mason got the balance right between developing her own dancers and recruiting dancers from the outside to fill senior ranks in the company and whether she struck the right balance between looking after the needs of her dancers and restoring ballets which were in danger of ceasing to be part of the company's active repertory. I don't know how many of the company's junior dancers  would have made the grade as Principal dancers or how many of them wanted the responsibility I do know that there were a vast number of ballets which needed to be staged if they were to stand a chance of surviving as part of the company's living repertory rather than a title which only meant something to audience members of a certain age.

 

It seems to me that while we are still feeling the effect of departures, which created a break in the company's continuity and its living tradition. We are only now beginning to experience the long term effect of Gailene Stock's time as director at the school.. The Royal Ballet School did not exactly fire on all four cylinders during Park's directorship. The number of gifted dancers who come all the way through the school is in large part the result of Gailene Stock's tenure as director at the RBS.She was head hunted for the post and did exactly what was required of her. During Park's directorship the quality of the graduates was far more variable than it is now and despite the complaints about the number of White Lodgers who fail to get into the Upper School I suspect that opening the school up was the easiest way of injecting a sense of reality into the whole enterprise. It will be interesting to see whether the current director manages to join the Lower School up with the Upper School so it is producing the sort of student that the Upper School will want to recruit. The signs so far suggest that it is doing so in greater numbers than was the case in the past.

 

I think that we are where we are now with a company which seems to be brimming with talent and a group of locally trained dancers who look set to do great things because of the work of Mason and Stock. We can criticise them if we like, We can point to the mistakes which we think that they made but I'm not sure that any of us would have done any better or achieved as much as they have done. I think that Sir Peter's evaluation of the abilities of the RB directors with whom he has worked is spot on. He seems to rate "Mon" very highly and he makes his assessment of them as someone who has run a ballet company himself which is not something that any of us have done.

 

As far as the critic's attendance or non attendance at debuts is concerned, I don't think that the company distributes tickets to them for what it considers to be an important debut, as it once did. So we shall have to see whether some of them are storing up their experiences for  a single review or whether they just have not been at the performances. I don't think that there is a giant conspiracy against your favourite dancers or mine. I suspect that the real explanation for the lack of reviews is that the debuts are taking place over the Christmas and New Year period. Now you may choose to see this as evidence of a plot but I think it is very sensible. It means that the dancers concerned will be appearing in front of enthusiastic and forgiving audiences who want to enjoy themselves which will no doubt reduce stress levels a bit. It gives the older dancers a bit of a break from the stage and  also gives the holiday audience performances by dancers who have the enthusiasm and promise of youth.

 

As far as Mr O'Hare is concerned his doing what he said he would do and build the company up from the bottom. I have a feeling that Mason would have liked to be in a position to do that  but what she did, it seems to me, is to create circumstances in which he is able to carry out his promise. As has been pointed out already Naghdi,Hayward, Hay and others were actually signed up by Mason. What I hope is that what we are now experiencing is long term and lasting rather than another cyclical movement in the fortunes of the company resident at Bow Street.

Edited December 29, 2016 by FLOSS

[capybara]

Actually, Anna Rose O'Sullivan joined in December 2012 during her third year at the RB Upper School. Kevin O'Hare was already in situ then.

[Nina G.]

Thank you Floss for your (as always) erudite and very balanced view on things, and you are absolutely right. IF my post felt as "criticism" it wasn't meant to be, just to highlight the different approaches and I assume only now is the current Director in a position to do what perhaps the previous Director had hoped of doing but circumstances prevented it.

 

It is indeed easier to "remark" upon certain issues, but it is a totally different ball game when one is in a decision making position. 

[hfbrew]

Actually, Anna Rose O'Sullivan joined in December 2012 during her third year at the RB Upper School. Kevin O'Hare was already in situ then.

You are quite right, I was 6 months out but I've no doubt that Anna Rose was always on course for the company whoever was in charge!

[Jam Dancer]

 

Under previous management the company was too top heavy, with a generally unexciting soloist and first soloist rank, followed by an unremarkable corps de ballet. One would go to the ballet only to see Rojo, Benjamin, Acosta, Cojocaru, Nunez but that was it. 

Mr O'Hare changed all that and he gave contracts to the very best coming out of the School... He no longer bought in foreign dancers and quickly developed his young dancers from the bottom upwards. We can all witness the result. The very best of British trained dancers are now carrying the flag and turning the RB into a truly national company, and a showcase for outstanding British ballet training. The Company has never looked that good and is so very exciting to watch. 

 

 

The company is indeed improved today and I'm happy to have witnessed the transformation as nail biting and hair pulling as it has been. And during the period to which you refer, I for one never went just to see the dancers mentioned. I went to see the performances of the company as a whole because although we all have our favourites, any performance by our anointed stars with a les than stellar company would still disappoint I imagine... in addition Morera was in the company at the time and i would never describe her as unexciting ...

 

I would also choose to describe Francesca Hayward as more than " very charming" but we are all entitled to our opinions...

[bridiem]

Another excellent performance this afternoon, including Claire Calvert and Reece Clarke as SPF and Prince - I thought they were wonderful. Calvert has a quiet gravity and grandeur that I like very much, and Clarke is very dashing and elegant. I thought they made a very handsome couple and they danced beautifully. I also very much enjoyed Isabella Gasparini's Clara - sweet, happy and lyrical - and Benjamin Ella's Hans-Peter - sparky and fun. And Itziar Mendizabal was a spectacular Rose Fairy, with her long limbs, grace and palpable connection with the audience. The whole company on fine form.

[hephaistion03]

Hello All : > )  

 

As an avid ballet lover (situated in Florida)  I read all these post with avid enthusiasm. 

 

I absolutely adore the  Royal  Ballet Company and have been attending performances at the ROH from the late 1970 till  about 2010

 

I agree on the comment made above ,  The Company has never looked that good and is so very exciting to watch. 

 

It is such an exciting time at the ROH , and take it from me , a bad performance by the RB company  is still miles higher than some of the local companies I have witnessed here in the USA ( with no disrespect to the local ballet companies i have saw ) 

 

Keep writing these reviews of performances seen,  they are all read by me

 

Did  anyone see Nicol Endmunds performace  a few days ago B S Brunell?

 

Happy New Year 

 

David  

ith 

Edited December 31, 2016 by hephaistion03

[Sim]

Hi David, and welcome to the forum.  I wrote about Nicol and Beatriz further up this thread.  

 

Happy New Year to you too, and do keep posting in 2017!

[along for the ride mum]

Another excellent performance this afternoon, including Claire Calvert and Reece Clarke as SPF and Prince - I thought they were wonderful. Calvert has a quiet gravity and grandeur that I like very much, and Clarke is very dashing and elegant. I thought they made a very handsome couple and they danced beautifully. I also very much enjoyed Isabella Gasparini's Clara - sweet, happy and lyrical - and Benjamin Ella's Hans-Peter - sparky and fun. And Itziar Mendizabal was a spectacular Rose Fairy, with her long limbs, grace and palpable connection with the audience. The whole company on fine form.

I was also there today and agree with you wholeheartedly,

[FLOSS]

Nutcracker has a wonderful score but it is not my favourite ballet, simply because with rare exceptions the choreography does not get anywhere near matching the beauty and complexities of the music. When the season was announced I thought that I might buy tickets for a couple of performances when the casting was announced I revised my plans.

 

As a result I have seen all the dancers making their debuts at Covent Garden in the testing choreography of the Grand pas de Deux of act 2 and some of the  more established exponents of that section of the ballet including Cuthbertson,Morera and Bonelli. I don't intend to say that much about dancers making  repeat appearances in the ballet except to say that Cuthbertson's performance of the SPF seemed even better than last year's, I have no doubt that dancing with her announced partner helped.Morera  gave a peerless account of the choreography as she did last year when she danced with Campbell as her cavalier.Bonelli who partnered both Cuthbertson and Morera was back on form in the performances which I saw, after his erratic account of the act 2 classical cameo in Anastasia where MacMillan's pastiche late nineteenth century seemed to be far more of a challenge than it should appear in performance. Nunez appeared with Muntagirov in this revival.  Nunez danced it extremely ably but to me she does not have the musical imagination and sophistication which both Cuthbertson and Morera bring to their account of the SPF's choreography. They always seem to find time and space to give their account of the piece a further nuanced musical dimension by playing with the music within the tempi set by the conductor. If there is a problem with Muntagirov it is that the elegance and ease of his approach to this sort of classical set piece makes the whole thing look far too simple and easy.I began to wonder if these established dancers had set the bar far too high for the dancers making their debuts as the overall effect of their performances had been to suggest that there are no technical  challenges lurking in the choreographic text and that all a dancer needs to do is get on and dance it.

 

I suspect that I need to say very little about Hayward and Campbell's performances as everyone who is interested in classical ballet must have seen the BBC's documentary about staging the Nutcracker in which they appeared. I will simply say that it looked even better in the theatre than it did on the small screen. Hayward danced with total assurance and gave a very nicely judged musical account of the choreography. As far as I am aware this was her first appearance in an extended major nineteenth century classical pas de deux in which it is just the dancer and the choreography on show and no character to hide behind. It was altogether a very fine account. Campbell displayed his skills as an exceptionally strong and supportive partner who knows how to display his partner and danced his own choreography with aplomb.  

 

I saw Naghdi and Ball's official debut in this pas de deux.They too,gave an exceptionally good account  of the choreography. Naghdi. like Hayward, is a very musical dancer and she danced the SPF as if it was her right to do so. Seeing the two dancers in the same role a matter of days apart makes me wonder whether Naghdi is slightly more of truly classical dancer than Hayward? Ball gave a very assured account of his own choreography and was a fine partner although there were a couple of occasions when a very slight miscalculation made me remember just how young he is and that those years tend to make more difference to the young male dancer than to a female dancer of the same age. I had expected that the Calvert Clarke pairing might be slightly less effective than the Stix-Brunell, Edmonds one, if only because Stix-Brunell has shown the ability to produce exceptional performances Perhaps I was expecting too much or perhaps the bar set not only by the established dancers but by the first two debutant SPFs and their partners as well. Whatever the reason the Stix-Brunell, Edmonds pairing was, for me,the least successful pairing although I suspect that in any other year I would have thought more highly of them. Theirs was a good  account for a couple of newcomers.Edmonds gave a very quiet understated account of his solo. I understand that he was back from injury so perhaps that was the reason why the pas  did not make the same impact as it had with the first two couples.Finally there were Calvert and Clarke. What would they be like? I was very impressed by what I saw and I don't think that was because I had initially harboured doubts about them. In spite of his youth I imagine that Reece Clarke inspires confidence in anyone who he partners. Calvert's account was more in Nunez's no nonsense unadorned style of performing the SPF than either Hayward or Naghdi had been. It will be interesting to discover in future seasons how much of the differences in approach to the role are attributable to the tastes of the coaches involved and how much to the taste of the individual dancers being coached. Of course it might be a generational thing.

 

I think that I ought to mention a few more roles and dancers.Emma Maguire's Clara continue to be an outstanding account of the role, O'Sullivan continues to develop her account of  the role and Gasparini who made her debut in the role during this run is well worth seeing. Naghdi's account of the Rose Fairy is outstandingly musical and Magri's debut in the role shows great musicality and promise. Hay's Hans Peter is outstanding but I wonder how many more seasons he will keep the role in his repertory now that he is moving on to princely roles? But there are other Hans Peters to watch out for, Acri's account grows with each performance and Sambe shows exceptional promise in the role. Both Gartside and Whitehead continue to develop their individual readings of Drosselmeyer.

 

All in all a very enjoyable run of performances by everyone involved in the revival  I expect Sir Peter is very happy and proud of how well both Royal Ballet companies have served his Nutcracker productions during the 2016-17 season. 

Edited January 5, 2017 by FLOSS

[alison]

Nunez danced it extremely ably but to me she does not have the musical imagination and sophistication which both Cuthbertson and Morera bring to their account of the SPF's choreography. They always seem to find time and space to give their account of the piece a further nuanced musical dimension by playing with the music within the tempi set by the conductor.

"Musical imagination" - a great way of describing what it is I so appreciate about Cuthbertson in particular in "abstract" roles of this type.