Movies |
The Nutcracker
By
Published: Jan 01, 2005
Category:
Classics
Our daughter hated ballet school, maybe because she started before she was three years old. She hid in our arms during class, refusing to take her turn. The other parents smiled, delighted that our adorable child represented no competition to their ever-so-directed children.
But when class was over and we were safely home again, the ballet began in earnest. Plies. Passes. Arabesques. She could do them all, perfectly. And at home, instead of the leotard and tights and ballet slippers that she wore in class, she put on a sparkly shirt and a tutu — she didn’t seem to care about a career as child ballerina, but she certainly was committed to the fantasy of ballet.
So we bought her Barbie in The Nutcracker — the DVD she now calls ‘Barbie Nutcracker.’
What can I say? She watches it all the time, and for that alone, hurrah. Is this ‘The Nutcracker’ as you and I know it? Not even close. It’s a Barbie movie, with the freaky super-real animation that’s routine in these films. But it does use the music by Tchaikovsky, as performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. And the choreography is by Peter Martins, successor at the New York City Ballet to the legendary George Balanchine. So the tradeoff works — our daughter gets a heaping spoonful of the good stuff along with the not-too-icky retelling of the story for the ‘Barbie’ crowd.
Eventually our kid will graduate to meatier fare, and then we’ll give her the George Balanchine version. Elaborately filmed as a movie — not a recording of a performance — it has all the virtues of traditional move-making. Once again, Peter Martins interprets Balanchine’s choreography, and this time his cast includes some of the New York City Ballet’s finest dancers: Darci Kistler as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Damian Woetzel as her Cavalier, Kyra Nichols as Dewdrop, and Wendy Whelan as Coffee. Martins has nurtured these talents for years; they knew exactly what to do for him here. And then there is star power: Macauley Culkin (who was once a student at the NYCB’s ballet school) and Kevin Kline as the narrator.
The story of a little girl’s Christmas fantasy is as magical now as it was when Tchaikovsky’s composition was introduced in 1892. That ballet production was a failure. Now, of course, ‘The Nutcracker’ is a sacred ritual of the holiday season — as I write, ‘Nutcracker’ performances have just started at the New York City Ballet, and across the city, little girls are getting dressed up to see their favorite ballet.
It’s a pleasant ritual, this annual return to one special ballet. It’s a way of measuring your child’s growth at the same time as you reaffirm something of enduring quality. And it’s also a way of connecting with the child in yourself, which is never a bad thing.
So choose the version that’s appropriate to your child. And, if you’re in New York City in December, consider a visit to Lincoln Center. Either way, magic is afoot. In a world drowning in reality, there’s nothing better.
To buy ‘George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker’ from Amazon.com, click here.
To buy ‘Barbie in the Nutcracker’ from Amazon.com, click here.
To buy ‘Nutcracker’ tickets for the New York City Ballet, click here.
