At Thanksgiving my family gathers to discuss what we will be doing for our four-day weekend. One cousin starts the holidays with shopping, heading downtown for the sales; another skis whenever she can find snow close to home. I go to "The Nutcracker" at Pacific Northwest Ballet.
"But isn't that just for children?" asks the ski bum.
As I argue for the right to attend without kids, I wonder why so many adults like the ski bum won't go to something "just for children."
Let's face it, as sublime as Balanchine can be or as startling as modern dance likes to think it is, most of us first discovered our addiction to ballet through Tchaikovsky's story ballets.
The great classics of the 19th century combined grace, glamour, fantastic costumes, fabulous sets and glorious music. "Swan Lake" can break your heart with its sad love story, while "Nutcracker" and "The Sleeping Beauty" have a fairy-tale charm that transcends the best of Disney.
I'll confess that I like a little frou-frou with the tutus on occasion. And there's simply no more frou-frou ballet than "Nutcracker" with its many moments of characters coming out to simply entertain the audience.
On opening night, those character moments highlighted some terrific dancers. Kiyon Gaines leaped into action as the Sword-Dancer Doll with huge jumps, while Maria Chapman was an elegant counterpart as the Ballerina Doll in Act I.
As a particularly enthusiastic Nutcracker, Taurean Green whacked away with his sword against numerous Warrior Mice - too many to mention all by name, but every year both the Warrior Mice and the Toy Soldiers seem to fight and fall more dramatically than the year before.
Young Clara, Laura Anne Wallace, bore a startling resemblance to the adult Clara danced by Patricia Barker. Wallace's fancy footwork was neatly augmented by a real sense of acting. She had great chemistry with Flemming Halby's mysterious Herr Drosselmeier that added a nice touch of drama to the party scene. Skiah Garde-Garcia as the annoying little brother Fitz was just as annoying as brothers can be, earning as many laughs from the adults as the children in Act I.
The "Nutcracker" created by choreographer Kent Stowell and designer Maurice Sendak gives a skeleton plot to Act II that acknowledges the bittersweet quality of Tchaikovsky's music.
Ariana Lallone's Peacock is as exotic as a Peacock can get, and Clara's freeing of the Peacock at the end of her number earned an extra round of applause on opening night. Nobody likes to think of a bird that beautiful and wild as being caged.
Jonathan Porretta may be hidden under layers of makeup in the Commedia scene, but nobody could hide his acrobatic talents as he embellished his chase of two Commedia girls (Lesley Rausch and Chalnessa Eames) with a flirty handstand as well as his usual fast, fast footwork.
Demonstrating incredible strength as well as beauty in her leaps and pirouettes, Carrie Imler led the Waltz of the Flowers. She can hold a pose en pointe for a seemingly impossible long time.
Whenever somebody says that "Nutcracker" is kid stuff, just ask them to stand on their tiptoes, strike a pose, never wobble and smile the whole time. It takes strength, flexibility, years of training and considerable talent to make it look easy.
Of course, Patricia Barker as Clara and Stanko Milov as the Prince always make the hardest stuff look easy. Barker says in the "Nutcracker" program that she is starting to consider retirement. She is now dancing her 25th season at PNB, but she doesn't look as if she's reached her limit. The final pas de deux with Milov earned a roar of applause from the audience, who know true ballet royalty when they see it.
Yes, "Nutcracker" is great entertainment for the kids. But, thankfully, adults can go, too.
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