ROYAL BALLET, THE NUTCRACKER, ROYAL OPERA HOUSE, COVENT GARDEN, DECEMBER, 1990 |
| From: DANCE AND DANCERS, February
1, 1991 Dance Review By John Percival NUTCRACKING TIMEIf anything could have put me off ballet for life, it would have been «The Nutcracker». The last scene of it formed part of the first programme I ever saw, and I thought it very so-so. Luckily there were «Les Sylphides» to give a better impression of conventional ballet and «Facade» which was what really hooked me. More people, I suppose, must start their ballet-going with «Nutcracker» than with any other work, and most of them probably leave it at that. Beware: the centenary of the ballet is coming up at Christmas 1992 and there will probably be more productions than ever (or can there be? The United States alone had more than 140 different versions this year). Most of them will rely on Tchaikovsky’s music for their main appeal, just as has happened since the beginning. The broken-backed story has always been a problem, and Ivanov’s original choreography was only intermittently attractive, as substantial chunks of it in the Covent Garden production make clear. The Royal Ballet now does have facilities for display and we saw some good dancing this time in the big duet at the end: especially from Collier and Mukhamedov (a beautiful stylish pairing), Bussell and Cassidy, and above all Ananiashvili and Fadeyechev - she crisp and bright and poised, he beautifully soft and buoyant... ...Meanwhile, the Royal Ballet has splashed out on more guests than ever, besides having its own new Russian on the permanent strength. There has been controversy about the effect of this on the company’s own talent, and it will continue. But leave that for the moment and concentrate on the fact that we have had some marvellously thrilling performances. Among them, note the qualities Nina Ananiashvili and Alexei Fadeyechev brought to «Prince of the Pagodas». She moves with a delicious lightness and breadth, responding to every nuance in the music and the drama, filling the role with a warm, sweet and generous spirit. He is equally at home with the grace and courtesy of the prince and the baffled suffering of the monster into which he is transformed. He throws himself into the big battle sequence with tremendous zest, delighted to kick, batter and stab his enemies into submission, and still has plenty of strength left for the solo and the speedy finale entries that follow almost at once. But note also the excellent dancing of Errol Pickford, making his debut as the Fool at the same performance - his speed, the height of his jumps, the bold clarity of his double cabrioles - and the power of Adam Cooper making his unscheduled debut as King of the North...
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