Waltz Into the Holidays with ‘The Nutcracker Suite’ (Review)
Get up close with the classic in LA
The Nutcracker Suite, like A Christmas Carol, has become a perennial holiday tradition. Starting in late November, versions of the ballet begin to sprout up (there are at least three or four different performances just in LA). I would wager that most of them stick to a traditional choreography, probably George Balanchine’s, and a traditional staging and performance. You probably have some idea of this look even if you’ve never seen The Nutcracker.
The American Contemporary Ballet’s version of the show marches in its own direction though.
Eschewing the traditional, ACB’s Nutcracker is condensed and has much of the connective tissue of the full show removed, but it still hones in on the heart of the piece to capture that holiday magic.
Director and choreographer Lincoln Jones has focused the program to the major dances of the second act of the ballet where each is featured as a sort of vignette. I’m not familiar enough with The Nutcracker Suite to tell how much the choreography has been changed, if at all. Even still, that passing familiarity was enough to match the dance sequences here with their counterparts from a full performance.
These dance sequences run the gamut from beautiful and elegant to impressive and exciting, often within the same dance. The show weaves together waltzes with nearly the entire company to smaller group numbers, along with duets and solo performances throughout the program to showcase the dancers and their talents. Rochelle Chang and Theresa Farrell’s solos are exquisite. Donald Nguyen Davison is magnetic any time he’s on stage.
The Mother Ginger dance is the one that’s most obviously changed from traditional performances of The Nutcracker. Normally it’s a fun, kind of goofy dance, but here Jones transforms it into something smaller (in every sense of the word) and more intimate, but no less delightful. Angela Ridolfi and Hannah Freeman captivate and beam here in bright yellow dresses as they joyously twirl across the stage to tell the clearest story of the night.
Those yellow dresses are just two of the delectable costumes designed by Ruoxuan Li for the American Contemporary Ballet. Many of the costumes are spins on holiday treats and confections that pull the audience into the World of Sweets. For the Candy Cane dance, the costumes suggest the idea of the Christmas candy without being so literal or obvious. More than that though, the style works to lend a sense of whimsy to the number as the skirts bounce along with the ballerinas in a particularly bouncy dance. The dress for the Tea sequence brings to mind both a saucer (in shape) and green tea (in color) while highlighting the dancer’s movements. The costumes manage to fuse the modern with the traditional to create memorable and distinctive looks for each dance.
Backing all of this is Tchaikovsky’s legendary score performed live, feet from the audience, by a seven piece orchestra. Because this version of the show is made up of The Nutcracker’s second act, that means the most famous pieces of music are a solid third of what you’ll hear. Even without a full orchestra, that lack of distance helps maintain the impact of the score’s bigger moments (think Trepak) even on a smaller scale.
The proximity to the performance is a hallmark of the American Contemporary Ballet’s approach to their work. As with Inferno and Burlesque, this makes ballet feel more accessible to a larger audience (doubly so with a shorter program for one of the medium’s most enduring works). As with those pieces, you can see the dancer’s precision and exacting movements as they work through the choreography, but this work is more “traditional”. I mean that mostly in the sense that The Nutcracker features a better look at what someone unfamiliar with ballet would expect out of a ballet. Watching the dancers go on pointe for entire sequences while they’re feet away is cool, seeing them spin and jump while they’re on pointe is extraordinary, realizing they make it look so easy is a stunner. (Farrell spends a significant portion of her solo on the toes of one foot, making something that must be incredibly difficult look like a walk in the park. It’s one of those things that’s so impressive you can’t help but laugh.)
The American Contemporary Ballet is billing this show as immersive. In terms of what to expect, the show has what might be best described as immersive elements in a pre-show. There’s room for debate here too; NoPro readers might find the idea of immersive elements to be more true, but for those less familiar with immersive theatre, it might be truly immersive. And maybe I’m just splitting definitional hairs because I did find myself enchanted by the little world they’d created. It felt like a winter wonderland and there were a few fun things to do in the space while waiting for the show to start, and again once the show had ended. There are some light interactive elements during the show as well. Mostly in the form of intermezzos, but the food kind, not the music kind. They’ll cleanse your palate and prime you for the next dance.
Between this and the double-bill of Inferno/Burlesque, the American Contemporary Ballet have impressed with two, strong, interesting, diverse shows in a row. Their rendition of The Nutcracker proves that they can play with concepts from the immersive toolbox, and seeing them attempt something like that on a larger scale would be pretty cool. More than that though, it’s a delightful treat just in time for the holidays.
American Contemporary Ballet’s The Nutcracker Suite runs select dates through December 24th at One California Plaza, 18th floor in DTLA. Tickets are $50–98.
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