BALLET REVIEW: THE NUTCRACKER

JOHN COULBOURN, Special to TorSun
21 DEC 2012
R: 5/5

TORONTO - Here in Toronto the fortunate, “visions of sugarplums,” are as likely as not to be set to the glorious music of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and cradled in a lush landscape created by designer Santo Loquasto as they move in that truly timeless tradition so elegantly captured by James Kudelka in his 1995 vision of THE NUTCRACKER for the National Ballet of Canada. And small wonder, for as the wraps came off that Christmas classic at the Four Seasons Centre Wednesday night, officially launching its 18th season, Kudelka’s masterpiece proves strikingly undiminished by time.

Of course, in a dance world where careers are too brief by half, many of the faces have changed. But though dancers like Rex Harrington, Martine Lamy and Jeremy Ransom are gone from the front ranks, they are certainly not forgotten, any more than are the characters they created — Harrington’s Peter, the Stableboy, magically transformed into a Nutcracker Prince, Lamy’s Sugar Plum Fairy and Ransom’s wizardly Uncle Nikolai. Instead, those characters have passed to artists like Guillaume Côté, Heather Ogden and Jiří Jelinek, each of whom steps proudly, confidently and artistically into the role, enriching a tradition of excellence that stretches back to the very first vision of this story the company shared with Toronto back in 1952.

But while Côté, Ogden and Jelinek all turn in masterful and magical performances, that is not to say that THE NUTCRACKER is unchanging — far from it, in fact. For, in creating the roles of siblings Marie and Misha (superbly danced on opening night by Rebekah Bloomfield and Simon McNally) and their friends, Kudelka not only placed children at the heart of his story, but ensured that every year, his NUTCRACKER would be infused with enough youthful vigour to keep it not only fresh but evergreen.

Drawn from the student body of the National Ballet School and from schools throughout the area, more than 60 young people take part in every single performance, matching the elegance of the professional dancers with whom they share the stage at every turn, their heady blend of determination and commitment filling the stage with joy. And where many performing artists might be reluctant to share the stage with children or animals, the artists of the NBOC seem to relish the chance to share theirs with an entire menagerie of darling lambs, daring mice and muddled chefs performed by these students.

Whether it is Alejandra Perez-Gomez in her role as Baba, or Xiao Nan Yu as the Snow Queen or James Leja as a cunning fox, every single (adult) dancer seems to take an extra bit of energy and commitment from their youthful co-stars. One is tempted to suggest that, in a world where countless cities can boast they have a Nutcracker, only Toronto has THE NUTCRACKER— and while it may be true, it would hardly be in keeping with the spirit of the season this production captures so well. So let’s just say that, at least at Christmas, it doesn’t get any better than this.