San Francisco Ballet’s ‘Nutcracker’ is shining star atop this season’s Christmas tree
With its fantastic atmosphere and adventurous film music, “Nutcracker” conjures up the magic of Christmas and enchants the audience with its enchanting magic. For many, the beloved ballet represents an essential cultural totem that heralds the merry Christmas. This year the “Nutcracker” is of particular importance as it heralds the return of the San Francisco Ballet to the stage of the War Memorial Opera House after a 21-month absence.
Choreographer Helgi Tomasson fills “Nutcracker” with a glowing imagination that makes the well-known story appear both new and nostalgic. The venue itself seemed to shimmer golden and embellished the aristocratic ambience of the opening party scene. The set is a triumph, complete with a soft glowing fireplace, a towering Christmas tree and a “Cinderella” -style staircase.
Visually impressive, the villa feels like home due to the characters who inhabit it. Glittering ball gowns swirl around the exquisite set and the children are a charming mob of ribbons, bows, mittens and ringlets. Uncle Drosselmeyer (Tiit Helimets) storms into the air with ease, and Clara and Fritz – played by the cute Abby Cannon and the hilarious Kai Hannigan – are lovely to look at.
Tchaikovsky, the composer of the original ballet, folded new and original melodies into the score with the enthusiasm of the cheerful Nicholas who hopped over the roofs. In this performance, conductor Martin West approaches each motif with intent and care, as if each song were a miraculous gift under a Christmas tree. The orchestra gives each atmosphere its own character – the romantic “Grand Pas de Deux”, the proud “Trepak”, the comical “Mother Ginger and the Polichinelles”. The dancers and the musicians blossom in harmonious marriage and take the audience into the fantastic worlds of a young girl’s imagination.
The story dissolves into Clara’s brilliant and fantastic daydreams, and the characters of her dreams move with ethereal grace. Tomasson’s choreography is an ode to the human body and its potential. The body becomes papyrus for poetic expression while the characters flaunt exquisite expansions and sleek jumps. Cannon is popular as Clara, and her older co-stars are generous dance partners. Above all, Joseph Walsh shines as the handsome nutcracker prince, all with charming heroism and dramatic flair.
The Snow Queen and the Snow King (Yuan Yuan Tan and Henry Sidford) pose like glass figures, but move with the smooth, liquid grace of running water. The accompanying snowflakes are an ethereal sight, wearing tulle skirts that move like jellyfish. The Sugar Fairy (Nikisha Fogo) turns and jumps through the air with inexhaustible, tireless buoyancy that leaves the audience breathless.
The set transformation itself swells into an amazing magical work. The first act culminates in a deeply moving sequence in which snowflakes fall from above. The show’s dynamism builds in its more episodic second act as Clara and the Nutcracker Prince travel the world in search of candy. The vignettes conjure up different national characters, but some numbers inherit outdated stereotypes about non-European countries. Despite the unchanged material, the dancers shine as captivating portraits of technique and skill.
The grandiose spectacle of “Nutcracker” – of glittering costumes, elaborate staging, incredibly difficult, but effortlessly executed movements – arouses a rare pathos. One that lingers long after the break and settles down on the drive along the Bay Bridge.
The “Nutcracker” of the San Francisco Ballet feels like a reunion – an event that always brings a special intimacy with it during the holidays. It is a catharsis to dissolve alienation, to thaw what was frozen in time. The pain of a 21 month absence is eased by the show’s warm embrace and everything is happy and bright again at the War Memorial Opera House. To see “Nutcracker” means to experience a homecoming – the kind that is bursting with magic and elicits enough indescribable joy to float into the new year.
Maya Thompson is an arts and entertainment editor. Contact them at [email protected].
