By BRUCE DENNILL
Joburg Ballet: The Nutcracker / Choreographed and produced by Angela Malan / Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways, Johannesburg
The Nutcracker can be a mildly polarising ballet in that it’s likely the classical piece that audiences have seen most often, and presented most of that time according to more or less the same formula. This production by Joburg Ballet changes the familiar scenarios somewhat and, with new choreography from Angela Malan and Shannon Glover, it also presents the dancers with some new challenges and audiences with fresh sequences to appreciate.
Malan also helmed the recent reworking of Don Quixote by the same company and, while this effort does not have the same sparkling pace and joie de vivre as that production, it is nevertheless a fine spectacle and an enjoyable presentation of a traditional favourite.
In featured roles, several dancers stand out. Craig Pedro brings his trademark flamboyance to Dr Drosselmeyer, with Gabriel Fernandes giving both Mr Stahlbaum and his Spanish dancer in the ‘Chocolate’ sequence poise and a strutting confidence. Kitty Phetla makes her presence felt as Mrs Stahlbaum and in other corps roles and Revil Yon makes the title character accessible and empathetic. And in perhaps the ballet’s best-known scene, the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Nicole Ferreira-Dill is all gentle elegance and serene composure.
In short but memorable cameos, Ruan Galdino impresses first as Columbine, opposite the also excellent Tammy Higgins as Harlequin and then in the ‘Coffee’ sequence or Arabian Dance, in which he and partner Monike Cristina provide the ballet’s highlight with an exhibition of extraordinary strength and control.
Principal dancer Shannon Glover was not in the cast on opening night, watching instead from the stalls in a new additional role as assistant producer, which is an encouraging move for both company and dancer in terms of using her experience and talent in new ways going forward.
Wilhelm Disbergen’s set combines physical props with digital screens well, with the apparently magical growing of the Christmas tree being especially effective, communicating the shrinking of perspective to the level of the toys and rats better than many previous productions have managed.
In this telling of the tale, it seems young Clara (Erica Vadelka) never gets to wake up, but as eternal dreamscapes go, what is presented here is friendly, colourful and filled with friends from far and wide.
