Nuts – Second View

As you can’t help but be aware, I am a sucker for multiple castings, and probably could scrunch into a sleeping bag if tickets and space were available to witness all casts.

With Brooke Byrne, co-owner of Geary Dance Center, I saw San Francisco Ballet’s Nutcracker the second time on December 26, the matinee. This time Jasmine Jimison inhabited the grand pas de deux with Mingyuan Wang as her cavalier and Wona Park dispensed with the Sugar Plum Fairy duties. Welcoming Ricardo Bustamonte and his charge to the evocation of Golden Gate Park’s Conservatory.

Jim Sohm and Katita Waldo were the grand parents, Jim with his stiff gallantry and broad gestures, Katita, fluttery, flighty, but clearly ready for anything.

There were, as usual, a number of double duties – Nathaniel Remez as both the Mouse King, hamming it up with relish and conviction and later the lead Russian in the Vilzak variation in Act II.

Chronic Complaint: The invisibility of the Snow Queen and King both at the Act I and Final Curtains. Why are they dispensed with, minus curtain call, instead of along with the snow debris on the floor?

Wona Park displayed her duties with a casual yet authoritative air, and of course, was seen with her usual competence in the Waltz of the Flowers. When it came to technical skill, Mingyuan Wang essayed his role as a Prince with his difident, but competent air. He and Jasmine Jimison provided a worthy climax in the Act II pas de deux. They also allowed a glimpse into how the running leap onto the Prince’s shoulder is accomplished, the discovery an exciting revelation. Wang invariably is correct in all his solo assignments; more partnering would allow him to display greater ease with the task. Jimison danced with her usual liquid phrasing.