The Nutcracker - Performance Review - City Ballet of San Diego

"The Nutcracker" is a curious phenomenon. It's the most popular ballet in the world, yet it's the brunt of jokes. "Nutcracker audiences - they're worse than sinners who crawl into church only on Christmas and Easter. Where's the most expensive place to take a nap? A Nutcracker production." Blah, blah, blah.

But through it all, The Nut endures. It can be magical and artistic with technically thrilling dance, and millions of American families are drawn to the charming story and Tchaikovsky's fantastic score. Fortunately, in San Diego there is no shortage of productions to choose from.

City Ballet offered a polished rendition on Sunday at the Spreckels with stunning performances by Janica Smith as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Ariana Samuelsson as the Rose.

In the pas de deux, Smith partnered with Taurean Green as the Cavalier, and their fouettes and lifts were audacious and smooth, except for a near-miss Fish Dive. Smith was elegant and solid in arabasque poses, and the lifts with her arching backward over Green's head were especially daring and dramatic.

Samuelsson was riveting as the Rose with crisp fouettes and tight pique turns, even at warp speed. As the daughter of the company's directors, Steven and Elizabeth Wistrich, Samuelsson was born to dance, and on Sunday she commanded the stage. She's a tiny person in real life, yet she traveled over every inch of the stage, more like a hummingbird than a flower. Never overwhelmed by the orchestra, she interpreted each note with musicality and joy, and her flashing eyes continually connected with the house, endearing her to the audience. In most productions she'd be Dewdrop, but over the last hundred years, choreographers have continually made changes to the storyline.

Wistrich cast Emily Kirn as a confident, more mature Clara than in other productions; it was a relief not to watch a tentative youngster. Still, guest dancer Alexei Borovik as the Nutcracker Prince seemed a bit old for her. It didn't help that there was no look-alike Drosselmeyer nephew character in the first half. Clara's young love drifting into her dream didn't make much sense. Borovik's mimed retelling of their battle with mice was classic. The child army on horseback was hilarious, although the spindly-limbed mice moved more like scary spiders than giant rodents.

While artsy types bash The Nut for its mime and mass commercial appeal, they might want to rethink their argument. The holiday production is a budget-saving cash-ew for dance companies and a clever way to feature tiny tots and emerging dancers. It can fund a whole season of edgier projects, and young dancers benefit greatly from performance experience.

The insidious Nut also inspires youngsters to take dance lessons. For many dancers, it's a memorable rite of passage. When dancers meet, the standard icebreaker is to ask, "So, did you do tap, modern or 'The Nut?'" It's also likely that if you see it as a child, you'll return with your own children, thereby continuing the tradition.

Every family has a unique approach. You can take pictures with dancers in the lobby. City Ballet dancers were especially friendly and approachable. Count the number of violinists and fouettes. Or try to guess how a choreographer will tinker with the Chinese dance. It's in the music, so it can't be deleted, and now there's pressure to be politically correct, so it's a challenge for choreographers. Wistrich has dancers twirling ribbons. That was a safe and visually interesting approach, but the hopping and pointed index fingers were uninspired.

A long lean Kevin Engle was a mysterious Herr Drosselmeyer, and his creepy magic helped Act I move quickly, as did the waltzes sprinkled with folksy footwork that had a quirky earthy quality. The divertissements in Act II included a rather tame Spanish dance and a sultry Arabian coffee number with Alexis Risi and Daniel Salvador. Risi was memorable for her flexibility and expressive hands. For the Russian dance, David Levy handled the aerial split jumps well.

On Sunday, there were a few problems with scrims thudding and curtains closing too soon, yet details, such as the swirling lights on a scrim for the dreamlike opening to Act II and falling snow, helped make this fantasy come to life. Colorful costumes by David Heuvel added richness to the Victorian flavored Act I, and they seemed right at home in the historic Spreckels. Mother Ginger's giant skirt was as big as a merry-go-round, and stilts made Rocco Ragano a giant clown who prompted many giggles as he admired his big red lips in a hand mirror.

The City Ballet Orchestra, directed by an attentive John Nettles, sounded better and more full than last year, with only a few squeaks. The youthful orchestra was balanced with several mature musicians and their wisdom made all the difference. A choir was an added surprise. From booming drums to delicate harps and bells, the orchestra was engaging, and for The Nutcracker, live music is required and always appreciated.