Once More Nut Time

Being slow to respond, I missed San Francisco Ballet’s opening Nutcracker, but saw the two hours of SF’s classic Friday evening December 15.

I was lucky to join Tab Beckner for my companion. He is a New Yorker, retired from the University of California, San Francisco as a student counselor. His balletomania commenced in New York, with his mother. Mentioning performances of New York City Ballet and the Royal, when it came regularly to Manhatten, he extolled the critical acumen of P.W. Manchester, my mentor and one-time managing editor for Dance News. To hear him utter “bravi” for the Kuranaga-Walsh grand pas de deux meant I was sitting with a true balletomane.

Tab shared standing room with the late Teri McCollum and the occasional press seat in their two decades of friendship. He assumed arrangements for Teri during her last year of life and organized the August tribute on the beach below Teri’s Pacifica apartment.

The casting informed a number of corps members are stepping with zest into prominent roles and the performance reflected the results of that challenge. Alexander Reneff-Olson gave his Drosselmeyer a distinct, almost conspiratorial flourish. Val Caniparoli and Joanna Berman as grandparents, while mature, were still agile. Sean Bennett’s Dr. Stahlbaum was a matter-of-fact parent. MingYuan Wang was a supple soloist as one of the dolls and Davide Ochipenti a dashing Nutcracker.

I also noted that the dancers seemed cohesive and in charge, more energized than simply technically accomplished.

No matter how many times, I have seen the transformation scene, it remains exciting, an admirable example of stagecraft into which the toy soldiers and mice pour themselves with gusto. Joseph Walsh as the Nutcracker Prince and Nathaniel Remez as the Mouse King had at it with equal vigor, Remez, typically making the most of his necessary mime. In all the scurrying around, students, corps and principals seemed having such fun!

The snow scene still is too loaded with flakes, but Sasha Mukhamedev gave us a Snow Queen with clear grand jetes, attitudes and pirouettes. She was abetted by Steven Morse whose skillful travel and turns reflected the basic accessory choreography.

Tomasson’s idea of having Golden Gate Park Conservatory for Act 2 with a diminutive host of lady bugs and butterflies makes for great exposure for younger San Francisco Ballet students. They gathered upstage right to greet their monarch, Sugar Plum Fairy Jasmine Jimison, who has been receiving a good share of deserved publicity. She is lyric; and in her port de bras, there is a noticeable, if subtle, engagement with the upper arm.

Of course, there is the Nutcracker pantomime about the fight, Joseph Walsh delivering the tale with clarity. Off he goes with the Fairy allowing the variations to proceed with the sleigh moved according to variation. Of them all, the Russian variation captures my interest because of the Easter Eggs punctured by the three dancers (almost two dozen coverings are needed each season) Tomasson retained Anatole Vilzak’s choreography. It remains perhaps the only remnant of Imperial Russia in the company’s repertoire. May it remain into the 22nd century.

The Waltz of the Flowers allowed the Fairy to travel and pirouette amongst the blossoms; her original variation being reserved for the grand pas de deux. Clara is given a crown by the Fairy and to admire it, she steps into a hexagonal booth with a mirror. The booth is turned by attendants and out steps an adult Clara, duly crowned, dressed in an elaborate tutu.

Misa Kuranaga and Joseph Walsh clearly aced the grand pas de deux, as evidenced by Beckner’s spontaneous bravi. One of Tomasson’s finely crafted pieces, my only regret is that the Sugar Plum variation is included rather than it’s being traditionally assigned. I also have to add that the audience was warm, enthusiastic, vociferous in their approval.

Final note: The company continues to post casting on stands outside the orchestra doors, easy for phone owners, and savings from changes in printed programs and the post-performance cleaning crew. Still, I miss them though the conservation of paper is admirable.