This opening night marked the first anniversary of English National Ballet’s new Nutcracker, choreographed by Arielle Smith and Artistic Director Aaron S Watkin. Has the honeymoon period, basking in a SkyArts documentary and glowing reviews, lasted? Well, the storytelling is certainly clearer than the muddled narrative of its predecessor and although the choreography doesn’t always dazzle, Dick Bird’s eye-popping designs, particularly for the Land of Sweets, do – a feast for hungry eyes eager for a festive sugar rush.
The music fares wonderfully well. Maria Seletskaja set some really swift tempi – an effort to return to the original tempi in Tchaikovsky’s calorific score – and the English National Ballet Philharmonic responded with brilliant playing; I particularly loved the loud rasp of the strong bassoon presence. They deserve top billing.
Smith choreographs up until the Land of Snow, where Watkin picks up the baton, although Smith is responsible for several parts of Act 2. They go big on the confectionery angle – and why not in this most sweet-toothed ballet? – and Drosselmeyer becomes a slightly creepy, Willy Wonka figure presiding over an Emporium of Sweets and Delights, Junor Souza over-egging the character’s eccentricities, although his rapport with wide-eyed, expressive Delilah Wiggins (Clara) was admirable.
We are in Edwardian London. Indeed, the opening tableau looks like a scene from Mary Poppins: dancing chimney sweeps, Suffragettes, the dome of St Paul’s bathed in a golden sunset. Smith’s party scene is over-busy, with a lot of fussy detail to distract the eye, although ensemble pieces like the March and the Grandfather Dance come off efficiently. I like the doubling of the guests with the Act 2 sweets, referenced in costume details. Rhys Antoni Yeomans’ mechanical movements made for a convincing Nutcracker Doll.
After Leo Flint’s video designs promise something sinister as silhouettes of rats scurry down the staircase, the battle is a disappointingly tame affair until Clara – now transformed in her dream into an adolescent – delivers the coup de grâce by stabbing the Rat King with a sword rather than the usual dainty tap on the head with her slipper.
The Land of Snow looks icy rather than enchanting. The glossy programme describes it as the Ice Realm, focused in Bird’s designs around a tree and icy shards. Here Ivana Bueno, returning as a delightful Clara, and Paulo Rodrigues, making his debut as the Nutcracker Prince, danced a pas de deux in which Watkin has a pleasing series of lifts, although swatches of dry ice meant you often couldn’t admire their footwork. Anna Nevzorova’s Ice Queen was suitably frosty, with sharp angular movements for the corps of icicles (in short tutus) and snowflakes (long, soft tutus).
Act 2 is where this Nutcracker really catches the eye. The traditional character dances have been updated with other global sweet treats, from Spanish Turrón to Ukrainian poppyseed rolls (replacing the usual Russian Dance), where Rentaro Nakaaki’s athletic splits impressed. The dances are a chance for Bird to indulge in over-the-top costuming, which comes off best in Marzipan-Zwiebelflöten (the Mirilitons) and the Liquorice Allsorts where eight tiny dot dancers steal the show from Thiago Silva’s live-wire Bertie Bassett. The Arabian Dance, here a thick, milky Egyptian drink called Sahlab, is choreographically inventive, Minju Kang’s long sleeves billowing like froth as she oozes from a cup, although her attendants are less flatteringly attired as cinnamon sticks. Bueno and Rodrigues had a further chance to shine in a duet within the Waltz of the Flowers – here Buttercream Roses – although a missed hold caused a brief fumble, swiftly recovered.
Watkin’s Grand pas de deux for the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier draws strongly on the choreography of Lev Ivanov’s 1892 original. It looks great – and was danced with panache and confidence by Sangeun Lee and Gareth Haw – but in the context of the rest of the act, it looks as if it’s been airlifted in from another production.
Nutcrackers do a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of sales for ballet companies – they need a banker of a production to pack out the house. Despite its flaws, ENB’s Nutcracker is bright and shiny and they’ve already all but sold out their pre-Christmas shows at the Coliseum. It’s a show to satisfy sweet tooths and chocoholics everywhere.
