Nutcracker - Susan Reiter

"Nutcracker" Debuts

“The Nutcracker”
New York City Ballet
New York State Theater
December 17, 2006 (matinee)

by Susan Reiter
copyright 2006 by Susan Reiter

The asterisks that indicate a debut on the New York City Ballet’s weekly casting announcement are usually a spare few during the lengthy “Nutcracker” portion of the winter season. But for a Sunday matinee about midway through the run of performances, there was a flurry of asterisks, as young dancers made debuts in just about every adult featured role. For that performance, the dozens of children in the cast, having settled into the run, must have felt like the veterans helping the neophytes through their paces.

Leading the way were a new Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier, Ana Sophia Scheller and Tyler Angle. The 19-year-old Scheller, from Argentina, has been known for her technical aplomb ever since she sailed with ease through the ballerina role of “Ballo della Regina” at the School of American Ballet Workshop. Her lovely classical placement and innate elegance have been showcased in a growing number of soloist and principal roles. At this point, we are awaiting the emergence of a distinctive performing persona, that aura that imbues a performance with individuality. As Sugar Plum, she had a glowing presence, but was overly rigid in her introductory solo, snapping into positions rather than phrasing them with suppleness. She was clearly hampered by the sluggish tempi with which Richard Fletcher conducted the music.

She exuded more authority and true ballerina graciousness in her pas de deux with Angle, who has been noticeable as a calm, elegant partner who seemed to comprehend — and embrace — the nobility for roles such as this one. The pas de deux sparkled and hit the appropriate highlights; the two exciting shoulder lifts were executed with lovely lightness. The coda was danced crisply by both, a bit muted, but with further performances these two are likely to find the way to build up the pas de deux to its full potential for excitement.

Sara Mearns was the lush, womanly new Dewdrop. She seems an unlikely choice for a role that many turn into a display of spiky, almost brittle filigrees of steps. But she imposed her own phrasing and expansiveness on it, and despite a lack of complete authority in some of its challenging pirouette sequences, presided majestically and musically over Balanchine’s gorgeous, ever-shifting rows and diagonals of exquisitely feminine flowers.

Those are the three roles in which “Nutcracker” debuts most frequently tend of occur. But on this occasion, everywhere one looked, from the first scene on, there were newcomers offering fresh interpretations. Amanda Hankes was a warm but no-nonsense Frau Stahlbaum, and Christian Tworzyanski was the properly old-world paterfamilias. Kathryn Morgan and Troy Schumacher were sweetly doting grandparents. Vincent Paradiso danced the soldier’s variation with electric verve and extra spring in his jumps.

Kyle Froman was the new Herr Drosselmeier — a spry, dapper figure who was clearly still a kid at heart. He delighted in the going-on around him and in his capacity to set enchantment in motion. He kept his mime clear and eloquent, never veering into overly demonstrative gestures.

Among the other second-act divertissements, Georgina Pazcoquin’s coffee was a tough cookie, more the haughty siren than the alluring kitten. Savannah Lowery and Seth Orza led Hot Chocolate with brio, and Masahiro Suehara, still a student at SAB, mastered the gymnastic hoop tricks with aplomb, and Troy Schumacher, sprang out of the box for Tea with crisp buoyancy. One scheduled debut, Stephanie Zungre as the lead Marzipan Shepherdess, did not take place; she was replaced by Carrie Lee Riggins.

It was a buoyantly enjoyable performance, with the “veteran” ranks of children delivering performances of warmth and charm. There was even a fine moment by whoever was guiding the magical bed that glides through the snowstorm, which executed a particularly lovely and musical “pirouette.”

Photos:
First: Ana Sophia Scheller and Tyler Angle. Photo: Paul Kolnik.
Second: Ana Sophia Scheller. Photo: Paul Kolnik.

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