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<p class=""><b style><span style="font-family:Palatino">Not one, but two NUTCRACKERS danced the same
weekend in downtown Cleveland</span></b></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-family:Palatino">Roy Berko</span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino">(Member,
Dance Critics Association)</span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-family:Palatino">It’s that time of
year.<span style> </span>Local theatres are staging
all sorts of holiday fare.<span style> </span>Tiny
Tims, Scrooges, elfs and Santas are traipsing their way across the boards.<span style> </span>And true to form, THE NUTCRACKER is
marching and dancing.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-family:Palatino">Since Cleveland no longer
has a professional ballet company, venues bring in the holiday necessity from
other sources.<span style> </span>The same weekend,
The Moscow Ballet presented its 20<sup>th</sup> anniversary GREAT RUSSIAN
NUTCRACKER for two performances at the Music Hall, and The Joffrey Ballet and
the Cleveland Orchestra played for four performances with THE NUTCRACKER at the
State Theatre.</span></p>
<p class=""><span style="font-family:Palatino">The major question from
those who knew I had seen both versions was, “Which production was better?” <span style> </span>Let’s examine the venues, the story
lines, the sets and costumes, the music, and the level of dancing.</span></p>
<p class="" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">It is a shame to invite
a quality dance company into the Music Hall in the Convention Hall complex.<span style> </span>Shame on the city of Cleveland and the
county for allowing the facility to deteriorate as it has.<span style> </span>The once beautiful Music Hall, part of
the Cleveland convention center complex, is now a tired venue with worn out
carpeting and seats, moisture textured walls and ceiling, out of date
lavatories, and a ripped front curtain with a hanging lining.<span style> </span>It is in this setting that the Moscow
Ballet performed.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Since 1993, Moscow
Ballet has gone into local areas and offered ballet students, from ages 7 to
16, the opportunity to audition, rehearse and perform with the professional
company.<span style> </span>The students portray
party children, mice, snowflakes, angels, and perform in the “around the world”
segments.</span></p>
<p class="" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">The sparse evening
audience at the Music Hall, consisting mainly, it appeared from the bouquets
they were carrying, relatives of the child dancers, witnessed a very
traditional version of the piece.</span></p>
<p class="" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Entitled the GREAT
RUSSIAN NUTCRACKER, it featured more traditional dancing, with Masha receiving
the nutcracker prince from Uncle Drosselmeyer, but finds it destroyed by Fritz,
her brother.<span style> </span>Distraught, she falls
asleep, only to have a vision of the Mouse King and his fellow rodents fight
the Nutcracker and his soldiers.<span style>
</span>After the soldiers’ victory, Masha and her prince go on a wonderful
adventure including a tour to the Snow Forest, and the Land of Peace and
Harmony.<span style> </span>This version features
much dancing by Masha and the Nutcracker prince, highlighted by the famous
Grand Pas de Deux.</span></p>
<p class="" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">The Moscow Ballet’s
version featured rather tired drop background drops and much used costumes.<span style> </span>But, what it lacked in visual beauty,
it more than made up for with superb dancing by the lead performers.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">The recorded music of
the enchanting Tchaikovsky score sounded rather tinny in the vast space, with
its outdated sound system.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">The children were cute,
sometimes in step, but received oohs and ahs from their relatives, and had the
memorable experience of performing with an excellent company.</span></p>
<p class="" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">What can be more
glorious than hearing the world class Cleveland Orchestra playing THE
NUTCRACKER?<span style> </span>Usually nothing.<span style> </span>As expected, the orchestra, under the
baton of Tito Munoz, was in fine tune, but those who are used to hearing them
on the open Severance Hall stage, may have been dismayed by listening to the
muted sounds coming from the under-the-stage orchestra pit.<span style> </span>That, added to the usual sound
difficulty for those sitting on the first floor beneath the balcony-overhang,
made for a less than thrilling experience. </span></p>
<p class="" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">The State Theatre is a
visually glorious setting for the opulence of the Joffrey production.<span style> </span>Special effects included snowflakes
dancing on the curtains before the production, a snow storm, gliding sleigh, a
Christmas tree which grew before the wondering eyes of the audience from the
stage level to the fly area, gorgeous costumes, full sets, and special
lighting.<span style> </span>It all added up to
making for a wonderful sight, but some might in the near sold-out audiences might
question the sometimes languid pace of the performance.</span></p>
<p class="" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">Joffrey’s account,
based on THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING by E.T.A. Hoffman, with choreography
conceived by Robert Joffrey and supplemented by Gerald Arpino, is the
traditional version to which American audiences have been exposed.<span style> </span>This edition takes place in a Victorian
Parlor in the 1850s, moves to the Magical Battleground, the Land of Snow, the
Kingdom of Sweets and finally back to the parlor.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">The dancing was quite
good, but with limited performance opportunities for Clara and the Nutcracker
Prince, the show lacked some of the real ballet experience of the Moscow
version.<span style> </span>The Joffrey segment where
the dolls from around the world come to life was well danced and intriguing,
with the children well integrated into the scenes.<span style> </span></span></p>
<p class="" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">The use of the children
in the Joffrey version, and the quality of their performances, was far superior
to the Moscow group.<span style> </span>Bravo to
Willy Shrive, the Children’s Ballet Master, for his work with the youngsters.</span></p>
<p class="" style="text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:Palatino">While viewing these
productions, older locals were probably drawn back to the glory days of Dennis
Nahat’s Cleveland Ballet superb version, with the then wunderkindt’s Raymond
Rodriquez and Karon Gabay in the starring roles. </span></p>
<p class="" style="text-autospace:none"><i style><span style="font-family:Palatino">Capsule judgement: It’s too bad that Cleveland doesn’t have a
professional ballet company but has to invite groups from other places to
provide the yearly THE NUTCRACKER holiday fix.<span style> </span>That negative was balanced by an opportunity for local dance
aficionados to have the chance to view two entirely different versions of the
Tchaikovsky composition.</span></i><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Palatino"></span></p>
<span style="color:rgb(255,0,0)">**********************</span><br>