ArtSpoken & Reviews
The Nutcracker with an African themeMoira de Swardt11/28/2009 08:44:46 
Moira de Swardt: This wonderful production is a continent and more than century away from the twee and dated Eurocentric version most people know. In many parts of the ballet world Christmas would not be Christmas without a production of "The Nutcracker" performed to the glorious music of Peter Tchaikovsky. Mzansi Productions obviously agree with this sentiment because they have resurrected their original African production of this much loved ballet which premiered last year to critical acclaim and audience appreciation. Unfortunately the glorious music was not live, but the recording allowed wind and rain additions and some interesting timing deviations. Christmas in Africa is a summer holiday, celebrated without anything but the most artificial of snowflakes, sleighs, snow-queens and sugar-plum fairies. It is way too hot for fur, and many of the "traditional" Christmas traditions are inappropriate for our climate. The changes in fantasy themes are an acknowledgement that we, collectively, are African and that we have a wonderful, diverse and vibrant heritage of our own. The only reservation that I have in this regard is that the gift of the nutcracker is replaced by a djembe drum whereas the name of the ballet remains "The Nutcracker". I would have liked consistency in this regard. Mind you, I acknowledge that "The Djembe Drum" is not quite as recognizable as "The Nutcracker". The production certainly meets the challenge of those who regard ballet as overly Eurocentric and irrelevant to the African context. The choreography is mostly neo-classical ballet, but with little touches of contemporary, martial arts, gumboot dancing and the merest hints of ballroom and hip-hop. Actually, I found the lack of an extended hip-hop number quite disappointing because one of the children was the 12-year-old Kalon Badenhorst, a finalist from "SA's got talent!" Having said that, the choreography by David Gouldie, Adele Blank and Esther Nasser was nominated for several awards through the year and I enjoyed the overall presentation immensely. The company is frighteningly small, with only 10 featured dancers, Craig Arnold, Gwen Barry, Bradley Peter, Kitty Phetla, Reika Sato, Yarisha Singh, Andrea Boon, Jacqueline Gruber, Sharne Hein, Gisela Iles, Gustin Makgeledisa and Martin Zoutman, plus an additional ad hoc dancer, James Fraser, presumably added after the printing of the programmmes. This meant that all the dancers had to work exceptionally hard, almost never being off-stage. Michael Revie is off recovering from a serious injury. The shortage of experienced male ballet dancers in South Africa is problematic for all our ballet companies. Kitty Phetla in the role of Drosselmeyer is fabulous. Her Junoesque stature demands that she work outside the traditional "fairy" and romantic lead roles. Her pointe work is always secure and graceful and it is a pleasure to watch her in pretty choreography specifically tailored to her unique requirements. Reika Sato is a wonderfully delicate dancer, precise and light. She commands attention and the work between her and Craig Arnolds in the Act 2 pas de deux between the Sun and Moon is lovely. Gwen Barry was the guest artist and as Clara she was suitably naïve, a difficult thing for an adult to achieve. Andrew Botha made use of screen-printed sets to create a South African wonderland, right from the cleverly decorated tree in the first scene, which finds South Africa's former president, Nelson Mandela, as the star at the very top of the tree. The costuming, also by Andrew Botha, is a wonderful contrast to the colourful sets, with the first scene being in black and white (with Yarisha Singh in a sexy French maid outfit). Even the children are dressed in black and white and in the second scene the backdrop is also the monochromatic black and all the animals are in black. The children make the cutest little animals, even though they did rather defy identification. The second scene is set in the Kalahari and the costuming is in muted tones of browns, rather like faded San paintings, which it is designed to evoke. The absolute highlight for me in terms of the mix of costumes and set was the waltz of the Namaqualand Daisies against a strelitzia strewn backdrop. For those who believe, as I do, that an outing is more than just what's on stage, the Lyric Theatre at Gold Reef Casino is a beautifully functional theatre with an old world feel, including balconies, and every mod-con on stage to delight the senses. Even the cheapest seats on the side at the back offer excellent visibility. There is plenty of undercover parking and the lifts bring one down close to the theatre. For people who want to include lunch, dinner or coffee as part of the event one can get a meal in every price range at the Casino. The season at the Lyric Theatre is disappointingly short, ending on 6 December 2009, so don't delay in getting your tickets for this strikingly different version of the world's best known Christmas ballet. Moira de Swardt Freelance Journalist moirads@wol.co.za 011 482 7320 082 553 2457 |
Comments
Thanks for the review. I for one did not enjoy the show and felt completely duped. Calling it "The Nutcracker" was just a hook to draw audiences with such a tenuous link to the original tale. They should have called it "African Fable to the music of the nutcracker". That would have been more honest and set expectations on a reasonable level!
Posted by Reilly on Monday, 7th December 2009 at 10:30:41 PM
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