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Parents Val Caniparoli and Pascale LeRoy presided with aplomb, Rory Hohenstein as the limber Jack in the Box, Dores Andre as a pink, beribboned doll, James Sofranko the precise Nutcracker. David Arce replaced Kyril Zaretsky, no longer with the company,as the Mouse King.

Thursday night performance included a radiant set of snow monarchs in Sara Van Patten and Pierre-Francois Villanoba, their earlier rapport in Wheeldon’s Carousel deepening the skill of their partnering. Van Patten smiled her way through the snow flakes raining down in positively blizzard fashion. Villanoba is ever modest,supporting a real prince.
 

Rachel Viselli did the honors as the Sugar Plum Fairy, minus the variation standard in most productions. Hansuke Yamamoto led the Spanish quintet; Pauli Magierek was wafted aloft by two attendants Arce and Aaron Orza between confinements in the genie’s lamp. Pascal Molat led the Chinese Number, Garrett Anderson the Russian ensemble, the choreography by Anatole Vilzak happily unchanged, with Viselli dancing the central role in Waltz of the Flowers.

Then the expectation of seeing Kochetkova with Karapatyan, she stepping out of the expanded hexagonal mirror box Clara (Lacey Escabar) had tucked under her arm going to bed. Oh, those sloping shoulders with arms curving down and out in first position so honed with practice they seemed natural. A few seconds of that straight back and solemn-faced yet clear pleasure in her expression, and I found myself wishing she and Gennadi Nedviguin could be paired; they are twins in presence and schooling. Her line, while small, sings with a singular impulse, steady, strong, extremely light; a lark filled with spring joy. A particular pleasure were the final foeuttes en tournant at the close of the coda. Kochetkova began to execute them sur place, then remembered she was supposed to travel on the diagonal downstage right where Karapetyan awaited her for the final pose. The sequence was just enough to anticipate watching Kochetkova’s rendition of the Black Swan, all 32 in place.

Not to slight Karapatyan; his line, extensions and height in sautes and grands jetes are elegant, their own brand of swoon. Now in his third season with the company, his assurance and emotion embrace a classic modesty and proportion. His attentive gallantry provided a perfect frame to introduce Kochetkova to San Franciscans who responded warmly, some bravos, several standing in the orchestra. Both underscored the word grand in the pas de deux.
 

Willam Christensen staged the first full length US version at the Opera House in 1944 on a shoe-string, wartime budget; yet not the least of this current Nutcracker’s charm is Michael Yeargen's set and the Ewardian chic of Martin Pakledinaz' designs. The opening visuals of a San Francisco evoke my relatives’ stories and anecdotes, beguiling me, enchanting my image of the City’s spirit. The 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition occurred just nine years following San Francisco’s devastating 1906 Earthquake and Fire, making the recovery akin to a Phoenix visitation. I hope KQED’s production of Helgi Tomasson’s take on the holiday classic conveys some of that vaunted elan to the world December 22, the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra led by Martin West.