An exquisite production, bringing glitter and joy to lighten the wintry dark. Scottish Ballet’s
An exquisite production, bringing glitter and joy to lighten the wintry dark
The 2021 production made radical innovations with a female Drosselmayer on alternate nights and revised choreography for the Sweets to address cultural insensitivity. Now in its 10th year the Artistic Director, Christopher Hampson has continued to tweak it to perfection with more dramatic focus and new choreography melded into Peter Darrell’s original, not only by Hampson but through the inspired idea to invite members of the company to choreograph the Sweets. On the night I saw it, we were also treated to Nicol Edmonds moon-lighting from the Royal Ballet as the Nutcracker prince.
Act I at the Stahlbaums’ party is now full of drama and humour from guests, children and servants - look out for the discovery of a dead rat and the eccentric aunts in black (Amy McEntee and Kayla-Maree Tarantolo) who appeared in 2021 but have developed their antics. Not least, a female Drosselmeyer, (Melissa Polson) flashes the lining of her sparkling blue cape more often and she is now a children’s party magician, making her less sinister than before as she pulls ribbons out of a hat or hypnotises one of the aunts. The mice, performed by children, wear Edwardian dress and carry stolen giant sweets, plus an apple-core. Their tails are draped over their shoulders elegantly and the fight between the regimented, masked and moustached soldiers against the Rat King is satisfyingly shorter and tightly structured, created by Nicholas Shoesmith. The Rat King (Javier Andreu)’s brief appearance makes him less frightening with the nice touch of Clara jumping on his back.
In fact, Clara (the charming Esme Noronha) is given prominence throughout but particularly in Act II when she watches the dancers and sometimes wanders through them and gives a twirl.
The Snow Queen (Gina Scott) and Sugar Plum Fairy (Marge Hendrick) and their attendants are superb, consummate performers of the pure classical technique. The Nutcracker Prince himself, the handsome Nicol Edmonds, added class not only through his breath-taking leaps but his stately yet open demeanour.
In the Realm of the Sugar Plum Fairy, the ‘Russian’ dance created by Sophie Laplane is hugely acrobatic and boisterous, including chest-bumps in fascinating red and gold Russian clown outfits with triple-pointed headdresses.The ‘English’ dance by Nicholas Shoesmith, features a Jack Tar mixing tremendous classical leaps with horn-pipe steps; the ‘Spanish’ by Javier Andreu is traditional Spanish though not flamenco, with striking red costumes, and includes the nice touch of presenting Clara with a fan; the ‘French Bon Bons’ by Jessica Fyfe, inspired by pure French classical technique and most interestingly by Edgar Degas’ paintings, wear distinctive long pink ragged tutus; the ‘Chinese’ dance, choreographed by Annie Au, introduced in 2021, replaces the previously dull costumes with eye-catching Chinese-style white-edged, with blue and gold.
Much tighter and more child-friendly, it is definitely a production to introduce a seven or eight year old to as their first ballet. And with all the glamour, sumptuous costumes and the high standard of classical technique, mixed with national dances to please adults plus new elements, even if they’ve seen The Nutcracker many times before will transform this into a magical experience.
