Ballet Arizona
Ib Andersen, artistic director of Ballet Arizona, opened his new Nutcracker in December with a virtual tour of a snow-laden, storybook village projected onto a scrim.
The dizzying technology had the audience at Symphony Hall in Phoenix soaring into side streets and over rooftops, flying through a wintry sky and coming to a landing outside Drosselmeyer’s workshop. There, high-tech digital magic shifted to flesh and blood, as dancers portraying the magician and his nephew were revealed behind the scrim.
The opening gave a nice heads-up to the production’s blend of old and new. Andersen didn’t tamper with the familiar story, and his dances delivered the expected dazzle, but he approached the holiday favorite with a fresh eye. Aided by a $1.8 million budget, huge for a heartland company, Andersen delivered a Drosselmeyer who appeared magically in a cloud of smoke; a silvery swan boat that seemed to move on its own; and gorgeous Act II backdrops rendered with celestial light and color.
Now in his seventh season with the once financially troubled troupe, Andersen celebrated the company’s new stability by revamping The Nutcracker from start to finish. All-new choreography allowed him to showcase the fine dancers he’s collected from around the globe. His Argentine prima ballerina, Natalia Magnicaballi, made an exquisite Sugar Plum Fairy. She reveled in quicksilver fouettés, outshining her Cavalier, Astrit Zejnati of Albania. To be fair, Zejnati narrowed the competition with a series of impressive grands jetés.
But it was the ballerinas who excelled in this Nutcracker. Kenna Draxton writhed in sinewy curves over her partner in Arabian Coffee, ending upside down with her legs in a split. Tzu-Chia Huang was a lovely Snow Queen, all aerial grace, and her corps of Snowflakes traced elegant geometries across the stage.
Among the other international dances, Chinese Tea comically borrowed from Asian acrobatics, and Spanish Chocolate relied on Iberian bravura, but the Russian Trepak was a tad tired. Where were the squat kicks?
Gorgeous tableaux preceded the dancing in many scenes. Clara sat immobile as the ballet began, her pink skirt billowing around her. She looked longingly out the window, the very image of youthful expectation.
The colorful abstractions of Act II were balanced by Act I’s party house, realistically appointed with a fireplace and wooden columns. Andersen shares set credit with Carey Wong; Michael Korsch did the excellent lighting. The costumes by Fabio Toblini were consistently lavish, although on occasion an overdone costume hampered the dancing. Poor Columbine was weighed down by a hoop skirt.
Andersen didn’t hesitate to inject flashes of humor. The mice scurried around on all fours, and their costumes were laugh-out-loud funny. Mother Ginger was more off-kilter than comical, however. Played by a male dancer riding on a grotesque, wheeled skirt, she was the only sour note in this sweet and sumptuous Nutcracker.
Margaret Regan is a freelance journalist who contributes regularly to the Tucson Weekly and other publications.
