Filed under: Reviews | Tags: Adam Flatt, Drosselmeyer, Gil Boggs, mice, sugar plum
The Colorado Ballet knows that it is Christmas! From the very first note the orchestra played, and from the very first movement that Drosselmeyer and his dolls made, the air of excitement filled the hall. It was a very emotionally charged performance on Sunday afternoon.
I am constantly amazed at the changes wrought in the Colorado Ballet during the last three or four years. Amazed because of the incredible depth of the dancing, that is to say between the corps and the soloists, let alone the quality of the dancing. Let me say at the outset, that all of the dancers, whether they be “in the corps,” or whether they are considered soloists, have demonstrated the ability to be soloists. And I have no fear that those who are listed as “soloists” will be offended by that. I hope that you will excuse me for getting a little ahead of myself, but I am referring to Sunday’s matinee, December 6, of The Nutcracker.
The Nutcracker ballet is such a popular ballet, or I should say, the music is so popular, that almost everyone has heard it or at least has heard about it. And, let me point out that there is a world of difference between sitting at home listening to a CD, and actually watching the ballet unfold upon the stage. The reason? When one sees a ballet performed, all of the smallest gestures that the dancers make echo all of the smallest gestures that the composer makes in the score. Those gestures can then be seen as well as heard. The ear of the average concertgoer has not been trained to the same degree that a musician’s ear has been trained, so the average concertgoer can often be awakened to new events in the music simply by watching the dancers. Therefore, I would urge all of those who are sitting at home thinking that after all, they know the music to The Nutcracker, so why should they go to the ballet, to attend the performance by the Colorado Ballet and see what they are missing.
The performance Sunday afternoon was remarkable because the soloists, Clara, who was danced by Asuka Sasaki and the Nutcracker Prince, who was danced by Luis Valdes, come from the corps. There was Shelby Dyer, a corps member, who danced the Sugar Plum, and Viacheslav Buchkovskiy, who danced the Cavalier and is listed as a soloist. But after watching the performance of this remarkable ballet troupe, it is apparent that any member of it could be a soloist, and that is what I mean in the first paragraph, when I say they have demonstrated incredible depth.
There are so many names that need to be mentioned: Kevin Gael Thomas, Olga Prikohodtseva, Igor Vasine, Olivia Hatrzell, Jaime DeRocker, Cara Cooper, Sean Omandam, Evelyn Turner – the list goes on and on. All are wonderful, and I beg forgiveness from those dancers whose names are not mentioned here. I urge those who want to read more names to attend a performance and read the program. And after that, please go backstage and give these dancers your personal support by telling them how wonderful they truly are.
As some of you may not know, The Nutcracker is based on a story by the incredible E.T.A. Hoffman, who had a huge influence over composers of the romantic period, in particular, Robert Schumann. But Hoffman’s story of the Nutcracker is really quite different in many ways from the ballet, even though most of the details are the same. The original story by Hoffman, I daresay, would be too frightening for all of the young people who always attend The Nutcracker, even though it does have a happy ending. It’s a little bit like the story of Hansel and Gretel. Even youngsters can tolerate the fairy tale, but I’ll bet there is no youngster who can sit through Humperdinck’s opera of Hansel and Gretel. Or, for example, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. Youngsters can tell that Wallace Beery’s portrayal of Long John Silver in the 1934 movie of Treasure Island is that of a bad pirate. But in Stevenson’s novel, there is no question that Long John Silver is positively evil. But this production of The Nutcracker was pure joy, and it is one of the best productions of The Nutcracker that I have ever seen. It is certainly the best the Colorado Ballet has ever done. As a matter of fact, before the performance got underway, the Artistic Director of the Colorado Ballet, Gil Boggs made some general announcements, during which he pointed out to the audience that they should watch for the joy inherent in the dancers performances. I’m not sure that he really needed to do that, because the joy surely must have been apparent to everyone in the audience.
The sets were absolutely marvelous – did anyone notice the faces on the towers and the cookie in the kingdom of the Sugar Plum Fairy? In the opening scene, the Ballerina Doll, Cara Cooper, and the Soldier Doll, Sean Omandam, were mesmerizing because of their mechanical movements. They were so concentrated – and so musical. The next scene of course is the party scene. And by the way, the one thing all of you must realize is that there are no small scenes in this particular ballet. Everything is large. Everything is complicated. The scene changes have to go very quickly. And did anyone notice that the violins’ solo at the scene change in Act One actually comes from Tchaikovsky’s other ballet, The Sleeping Beauty? And what about the scene where the Christmas tree grows? Do you realize that it’s not the Christmas tree that is growing, it is that Clara is shrinking? She becomes the same size as her beloved Nutcracker who defeats the evil mice and their King.
Guest artist, Gregory K. Gonzales, who portrayed the kind Drosselmeyer, was very fluid, and positively glided from one part of the stage to another, and yet left us with the feeling that he is an individual best left in a good mood. Igor Vassine and Olga Prikohodtseva were wonderful as Clara’s parents.
The soloists in the Second Act, Janelle Cook and Travis Morrison, the Arabian; Casey Dalton, Sally Turkel and Kevin Gael Thomas, the Spanish Dancers; Sean Omandam, the Chinese soloist; all of the Marzipan soloists; the Russian soloists; Mother Ginger by Kevin Wilson and Symone Esquibel; Sayaka Karasugi who danced Dew Drop; and Evelyn Turner who danced The Flower: all deserve special mention. Their technique was something to behold and I cannot find enough superlatives for it. All of these dancers demonstrated what I can only call artistic integrity, as well as excitement for what they were doing. One can only imagine the hours and hours of work, not to mention the hours and hours of athletic style work-outs.
I was left with several impressions. Asuka Sasaki, who danced Clara, and Shelby Dyer, who danced the Sugar Plum, gave their characters a remarkable sense of delicacy which I have not seen before. Nor have I seen such concentration from every single cast member concerning the smallest detail, from facial expressions to hand gestures. Even when Luis Valdes had his arm around Asuka Sasaki, his hand on her waist was held just so.
Of course, all of this reflects upon Gil Boggs, the Artistic Director, and the two Ballet Mistresses, Sandra Brown, and Lorita Travaglia. I am sure that all of you must realize that these dancers do not dance every single performance of The Nutcracker. The performance schedule is such that there are different dancers every time the ballet is performed. That means that the dancers imbue their own personality into the characters they are portraying. In turn, that means that at each performance, the dances are slightly different. Can you imagine the stress that creates for Maestro Adam Flatt, the Music Director and Principle Conductor? I can assure you that this is not just another conducting job. In addition, I think it is time to mention the Company Pianist, Natalia Arefieva. She has to prepare these dancers for Mr. Flatt. How hard it must be to keep a steady beat while allowing the dancers their artistic freedoms. The orchestra in this performance was as superb as the dancers. Unfortunately, it is often the case that ballet orchestras somehow come out second best. That is certainly not the case with this orchestra. I was drawn to the woodwind section, particularly the clarinet played, by Debra Wilbur, and the harpist, Pamela Eldridge. And I would like to point out that the string section was truly fine. When the string section is so small, and they do have to fit into the orchestra pit, it is very easy to hear if anyone is out of tune. They never were. This is the best orchestra, and might I add, Adam Flatt is the best conductor that the Colorado Ballet has ever had. All of the individuals mentioned in this paragraph have given the Colorado Ballet a new artistic heart. It is also a joyful heart.
The Colorado Symphony Orchestra’s fund-raising drive for this week has brought to mind several issues that I think need to be addressed. In previous blogs and articles, I have spoken to many of these issues, but many need to be mentioned again. The Colorado Symphony Orchestra is not the only orchestra in Denver that needs assistance. And it certainly is not the only arts organization that needs assistance. All of the community orchestras in the metropolitan area need financial assistance, and some of them need it very badly. In the sidebar of this blog site, on the left-hand side of the screen, I have listed links to several arts organizations. Take a look, and discover how many community orchestras there are in the Denver metropolitan area. The Colorado Symphony, the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, and the Boulder Philharmonic are the only professional orchestras (and they need help as well). The other orchestras are all community orchestras. I would hope that they are paying attention to the innovative way in which the Colorado Symphony is going about its fund-raising this week. There is much to learn. However the community orchestras face some unique problems.
All of the community orchestras are facing one crucial issue which is affecting their fund raising: many do not know that they exist. And of course this is not helped by a local music reviewer who proclaimed the fact that there is no alternative to the Colorado Symphony or the Boulder Philharmonic for orchestral music. That comment appeared in the Denver Post on Sunday, June 8, of last year when Kyle MacMillan wrote a supposedly informed article about the classical music scene in Denver. All of the community orchestras in the metro area should have responded loudly to that statement. Their silence confirms to many, except for those who regularly attend their own “community” orchestra, that the community orchestras need to put out the word of their existence with great vigor. These orchestras must learn to pull together to help each other. Remember, it’s just like crossing the street; there is safety in numbers. In 2007, when I was involved in orchestral administration, the Denver Foundation invited the executive directors of the community orchestras to a meeting at the Foundation office. The Foundation wisely thought community orchestras would be well served by creating a new organization comprised of all the orchestras in the Denver metro area. Thankfully, this happened and the resultant organization became known as the Denver Metropolitan Community Orchestra Association. It was a fantastic idea which unfortunately, was approached with great caution by some of the orchestras, or at least so it seemed at the time. I think part of the problem was that these orchestras thought that they were in a state of competition with the other community orchestras. Nothing could be further from the truth. For example, the people who attend the concerts given by the Aurora Symphony Orchestra would be unlikely to attend the concerts given by the Jefferson Symphony. And aren’t all of the orchestras involved in the same art of music? But I must say that these orchestras were helping each other, albeit in very small ways. It always seemed to me, and keep in mind that I am no longer in orchestral administration, that these orchestras could join together in a giant fund-raising effort. Of course, there would be all kinds of logistical details to be worked out, such as, how do you divvy up the money obtained by the fund-raising. Nonetheless, it would be worth the effort because it would draw attention to these community orchestras whose concerts go totally un-attended by some of the funding agencies in town. As a matter of fact, a former board member of a leading funding organization whom I met at a community orchestra concert, told me that this particular community orchestra was one of the best-kept secrets in Denver.
There are so many ways for these community orchestras to think “outside the box.” How does one think outside the box? A trite example might be, and mind you, I am not proselytizing this, but nonetheless a trite example: remember in your youth when you considered opening a lemonade stand on the corner? Even then, I’ll bet that you understood you would not make much money charging a nickel for a glass of lemonade. But thinking outside the box would be this: you give away the lemonade for free, and then charge five dollars for a hand of blackjack. I still think that the DMCOA would be a fantastic organization that wouldn’t even have to be limited to just orchestras. Why not invite some of the choral groups in town to join? Of course, then the pedants in the group would insist that the name be changed but it would probably be worth it. Please realize that while I say all of this, I am no longer in orchestral administration, and therefore out of touch. It could be that this is going on as I speak. But I must say, that all of the arts organizations in the Denver metro area should band together for certain projects, perhaps for a yearly fund-raising event. And it would have to be done in a very serious manner, for these are very serious times. When I say serious manner, I am not speaking of a fund-raising silent auction, or a fund-raising dinner. I am speaking of a well thought out major event. It would have to be something that draws strong attention to every organization partaking in the event. For example, perhaps through strong leadership, the DMCOA could organize a new orchestra comprised of the constituent members of the DMCOA, and perhaps even a choir, and put on a yearly fund-raising concert of some magnitude which would be guaranteed to draw a large audience. An oratorio? A Schubert Mass? A Gouvy cantata? The imagination must prevail in order to attract attention to the musical arts.
