'The Nutcracker', a real treat for ballet lovers
'The Nutcracker', a real treat for ballet lovers
By Tri Hafiningsih
JAKARTA (JP): Classical ballet performances have been rare
events in the last few years. So The Nutcracker, performed here
last weekend at Taman Ismail Marzuki, was a real treat for ballet
fans.
The performance by dancers from the Namarina ballet school,
supported by a few of the limited number of professional ballet
dancers here, also attracted children as it featured their idol,
singer-actress Sherina Munaf, who skyrocketed to popularity with
an orchestra-backed album of songs and smash hit film Petualangan
Cinta last year.
Choosing her to play Clara, one of the leading characters in
the classic with music composed by Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky, was a
smart move to make the show more appealing to the locals. The
shows were packed even though most of the audience were probably
unfamiliar with the legendary Christmas season classic.
People also probably turned out because ballet performances
are such a rarity here. Colorful costumes and stage backgrounds
were displayed throughout the two-hour show, while the dancers
skillfully performed some difficult numbers of the New York City
Ballet's version of the dance choreography with notable technical
precision.
The opening scene featured the opulence of a 19th century
Christmas party at the Stahlbaums family residence. The colorful,
shiny costumes of the women and girls attending the party
appropriately prepared the audience for the dreamy, out of this
world atmosphere of the next scenes.
The costumes of the gentlemen guests, on the contrary, were
rather dull and too modern-looking. It created a bit of a gap,
separating the men characters, played by non-dancers, from the
women, played by Namarina dancers. It was a little uncomfortable
to see the men dancing awkwardly with the skilled women dancers
in the ballroom scene of the first act.
Sherina and Kanumara Sianturi, who played the Stahlbaum
children, were able to portray perfectly the excitement of the
children at the joyful Christmas party. But Kanumara, who played
Clara's brother, Fritz, seemed to have difficulty keeping up with
the others (all the other boy characters were played by girls),
in the scenes in which he had to dance.
Ginastera Sianturi, who played the Nutcracker, clearly had
better experience and was able to show his ballet skills in some
of the scenes, but he lacked the range of expression and
appropriate costumes to support the change of characters. It was
difficult for the audience to see him completely assume different
roles -- as the guest of the Stahlbaum party in the opening
scene, then the Nutcracker toy coming alive (the blond wig and
beard helped a little) in the first act, and finally as the
handsome prince who had to lead Clara in the dream. He seemed to
remain Ginastera, rather than as the leading character of a grand
ballet performance.
Then again, the scenes and characters in the first act were
presented to build the proper atmosphere. The lack of skills of
the gentlemen performers were easily forgotten with the grand
costumes of the ladies, the games and shows of the mysterious,
playful, magician character, Uncle Drosselmeyer, and the funny
gestures of the toy soldiers and the Mouse King. All of those
attractions mostly appealed to the children in the audience, who
laughed, clapped and cheered at those particular scenes.
The mysterious Uncle Drosselmeyer, who came to the party to
entertain the children with games and gifts, was successfully
played by Edmund Gaerlan with the perfect support of a black
cloak and eye patch. He also played the Cavalier Prince, dancing
the grand pas de deux with the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Grand
Finale just before the closing scene. In the party scene the
uncle gave Clara a nutcracker toy soldier as a Christmas gift.
The first act ends with the death of the Mouse King, killed at
the tip of the Nutcracker's sword. Clara helped the Nutcracker
and toy soldiers, who become big and alive in Clara's dream, to
victory against the invading mice.
The second act was a continuous display of skilled dancing and
complicated choreography, originally designed by Lev Ivanov of
the Russian Ballet at the turn of the 19th century. It started
with the dancing Snowflakes, in which 12 dancers in white,
flowing tutus danced the classical number on point shoes. The
falling snow in the final scene featuring all the dancers, as
well as Clara and the Nutcracker Prince, created a perfect,
dreamlike, atmosphere.
In the Kingdom of Sweets, the Sugar Plum fairy entertained
Clara with colorful dances of Hot Chocolate, Arabian Coffee,
Chinese Tea, Madame Bonbonniere, Spanish, Russian and the
legendary Waltz of the Flowers.
The number featuring Madame Bonbonniere was perhaps the most
attractive for the by now wide-eyed, amazed children in the
audience. The madame, or Mother Ginger, made a grand solo entry
in her shocking-pink costume. Her ballooning petticoat-skirt
surprisingly "managed" to conceal all the dancers of the Candy
Cane and the polichenelles.
The second act closed with the grand pas de deux of the Sugar
Plum Fairy, played in turns by Namarina's Jetty Maika and Rialita
Wijaya, and the Cavalier Prince. The difficult movements and
choreography of the final duet dance were perfectly carried out
by the skilled, professional dancers. But it would have been even
better if the dancers had more relaxed expressions during the
particularly complicated number.
The elements of surprise were in the closing scene. Clara and
the Nutcracker Prince bid farewell to the residents of the land
of Sweets, and the audience, while "flying" over the stage. There
were a few worried expressions from Clara and the Nutcracker
during the short scene, showing the amusing aspects of live
entertainment. And then the curtain came down, too soon for some,
on a charming and diverting performance.