Nutcracker: The Story of Clara

So last night I went to see 'Nutcracker: The Story of Clara' performed by the Australian Ballet Company. 

I very much enjoyed this adaptation of the Nutcracker. Quite different to the original story, this Nutcracker (created by Graeme Murphy) was set in 1950's Australia and followed Clara (Marilyn Jones), an ex-patriot Russian Ballerina, living in Australia. On Christmas Eve her friends arrive to celebrate with her; however, she is stricken with hallucinations and problems (which a young doctor arrives to help her with). Once her friends have left she falls into a hallucination that returns her to her life as a young ballerina in turn of the century Russia; continuing through her lifetime until her arrival in Australia with the Russian Ballet. 

The Three Clara's (from left, Amy Hargreaves, Rachel Rawlins, Ai-Gul Gaisina)

The beginning of the Ballet was somewhat slow and devoid of much real dancing, mostly a take on old people dancing drunkenly on Christmas Eve. Although comical, it lacked enough dancing to keep me completely interested. By the time Clara had entered into her hallucination; however, it became a display of incredible dancing talent and interesting story progression. As she first enters into her hallucination she is attacked by a troop of ninja rats, designed to appear similar to Cossacks (Russian Police). This is an adaptation from the original story, as Clara is attacked by rats and her toy soldier comes to save her. In this story it is her Army Officer lover who saves her from the rats. A combination of acrobatics, beautiful lighting and a poignant reuniting of the Officer with Young Clara, this scene paved the way for fantastic show. Although by this point, we were one scene away from the end of Act I, leading me to believe that Act I was predominantly slow, with a strong ending. 

The fake Ballet Russes

Act II not only demonstrated the level of dancing that we had paid to see, but also contained some of Tchaikovsky's most well known songs from the Nutcracker Suite. At times though, I was a little disappointed that in some of my favourite dances they did not exhibit much actual dancing, such as the chinese dance, a moderate paced bright song merely containing the majority of the company performing tai chi; and the Russian Dance (Trepak) did not really begin dancing until half way through and lacked the Cossack jumps that I had expected to accompany it. 

Rachel Rawlins and Kevin Jackson as Young Clara and the Officer

These factors aside, the dancing was, for the most part, amazing. We were privileged enough to have Danielle Rowe, one of the upcoming prima ballerina's in the Australian Ballet, perform as the younger Clara. I can absolutely understand why she is one of their best principal dancers. Every pas de deux between her and the Officer (Played by Andrew Killian) was more beautiful than the last. Her extreme flexibility and ability to maintain some of the most difficult lifts I have ever seen were nothing short of breath-taking. A special mention also was the Arabian Dance, in which about 6 or 7 of the male dancers replicated Egyptian slaves and performed an intriguing dance accompanied by a large rope to represent their shackles. This dance was so compelling, that I did not notice that there were 6 or 7 half naked men on stage until more than half way through. 

A sample of Kristian Fredrikson's Costumes for the fake Ballet Russes

The production values of the performance simply accentuated the enchanting nature of the show. Along with multitudes of changing sets, strong, powerful lighting and large scale screens to project images of Revolutionary Russia, were the spectacular costumes designed by Kristian Fredrikson. Each costume was either stunningly beautiful, or surprisingly accurate for the time period they were representing. Special mention goes to the designs for the fake Ballet Russes performances. I also have to mention the use of an amazing two way mirror. The mirror would appear as a mirror, but when Clara's older self came up to it from behind, it would no longer appear as a mirror but a window. I still cannot figure out how this effect was created, but it was nothing short of amazing. 

The Mirror effect

Here is one of the Pas de Deux's between Young Clara and the Officer (performed by Danielle Rowe and Andrew Killia at the So You Think You Can Dance Finale 2009)

'The Nutcracker: Story Of Clara' is on the State Theatre, the Arts Centre until the 18th June

Overall Opinion: Definite must see for all ballet/ dance lovers

Em