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Paris Opera Ballet‘Casse-Noisette’ (Nutcracker) December 2007 Paris, Opera Bastille by Norman Reynolds |
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As posted on our Postings pages... There are so many versions of The Nutcracker that on seeing an unfamiliar production one cannot avoid trying to spot the differences. Rudolph Nureyev had mounted Casse-Noisette several times and for Berlin in 1979 Nicholas Georgiadis designed the set and costumes. More and more Nureyev emphasised the darker side of the story, moving away from the Dumas/Petipa version towards that favoured by Hoffmann and Tschaikovsky. In this 1985 Opéra de Paris ballet he contrasts the outside world with the domestic, the reality of the family with the internal world of dream and imagination. The ballet begins with the Street Scene with eight boys skating - pirouettes, arabesques and a loping, running movement all to suggest ice skating. At this performance Clara was danced by Nolwenn Daniel, Drosselmeyer and The Prince by Christophe Duquenne, while the Nutcracker was Adrien Bodet. The three marionettes do not actually come to life, Drosselmeyer arranges for them to be danced by Clara as the Doll, her brother Fritz (Axel Ibot) as the Clockwork Hussar, and her sister Luisa (Charlotte Ranson) as the Turk, complete with scimitar. Magic tricks are rather thin on the ground, apart from a couple of fire-crackers and a large box which moves around the stage at Drosselmeyer's bidding. The children dance, first the boys with hobby horses, then the girls with dolls - in both cases foreshadowing events in Clara's dreams - then they get the lame Drosselmeyer, black patch on one eye, to dance and all follow his lead. In Clara's dream the rats are played by the children with the rats heads worn on top of their heads so they can see through the necks and this makes them specially tall. They are attacked first by foot soldiers, then by the cavalry, the dancers encased in 'chevaux-jupons' (horses represented by crinoline-like skirts), all led by the Nutcracker Hussar. After the Prince appears, he and Clara dance a pas de deux and the Dance of the Snowflakes is led by the two leading 'Flakes' (Géraldine Wiart and Charline Giezendamner). In Act Two Clara's dream continues as she herself is attacked by the rats who are so large she seems quite small in their midst. She tries to draw them off by throwing dolls over their heads, until the Nutcracker Hussar and his soldiers reappear and drive the rats off. Then the bats appear, all in long black cloaks with sleeves like wings. Their (human) heads are four times normal size and we see that they are Clara's family and the guests, but they then remove their heads and they are just human beings - father, mother, grandparents and guests. The next part is a journey - the Spanish Dance featuring Luisa and Fritz, Arabian Dance with Grandfather (Ludovic Heiden) and Grandmother (Cécile Sciaux) and the Russian Dance with Father (Alexis Renaud) and Mother (Nathalie Aubin), all with other dancers. Then follow the Chinese Dance and the Pastorale, each with three dancers, and the Flower Waltz. Clara herself is transformed into a Princess and dances the pas de deux with the Prince. The whole performance worked very well, with the Georgiadis designs, lighting (Rui Dematos-Machado), the Paris Opera Orchestra under Kevin Rhodes, all full of movement, action and fine dancing, especially from Clara and the Prince.
Timing just over two hours including a 20 minute interval. A shortened version of 50 minutes (different cast) excluding most of the battle scenes, the bats, the Spanish, Arabian and Russian dances and other linking scenes, was televised on Christmas Day afternoon. A DVD is to be issued next year.
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