A beloved holiday ritual returned last weekend, as the Colorado Ballet launched its annual presentation of “The Nutcracker” with 24 performances running through Christmas Eve in the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.
Much about this year’s production is little changed from years past, and that’s the way most attendees like it. Perhaps more than any other ballet, “The Nutcracker” is about tradition, recalling childhood memories and making new ones.
The company is once again employing a now-familiar version of the Christmas fantasy by Martin Fredmann, the company’s former artistic director, with some choreographic enhancements by Sandra Brown, one of the company’s ballet mistresses.
The big change this year is the addition of the Dew Drop, a staple in other versions of the holiday but previously absent from this production. She is showcased in the Waltz of the Flowers, which occurs before the ballet’s final duet.
Most of the roles are triple cast, with soloist Janelle Cooke taking her turn Friday evening as the Dew Drop, bringing an appealing jauntiness to the role.
Also back are the sumptuous Victorian-era sets and costumes, created by noted designer Jose Varona in 1986 for the San Francisco Ballet and later purchased by the Colorado Ballet. They were first seen in Denver in 2005.
As usual, the ballet’s climax comes with the grand pas de deux featuring the Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier. Appearing in these key roles Friday evening were veteran principals Sharon Wehner and Igor Vassine.
They are two of the company’s tried-and-true stars, and it showed. They imbued their handsome partnering with elegance and polish, appearing totally in tune with each other, even though they are not frequent partners.
Both brought technical precision and an appropriate dose of showmanship to their solos, especially Vassine, the model of a male principal. He executed his leaps and other moves with a well-honed combination of muscularity and refinement.
Other company members deserving note include John Henry Reid, nicely hamming it up as the Mouse King; Chandra Kuykendall’s slinky turn in the Arabian divertissement; and the acrobatics of Tomasz Kumor and Andrew Skeels in the Russian divertissement.
Among the three casts, the production incorporates a total of about 90 children ages 9-12, and they handled their roles with focus and poise, especially the Polichinelles and two Sugar Plum Attendants — Rachel Lie and Morgan Wing.
The ballet’s classic score is performed by a 40-piece pit orchestra led by music director Adam Flatt. A larger ensemble would provide a desirably bigger, richer sound, but budget limitations no doubt make that impossible.
“the nutcracker”
Ballet. Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Denver Performing Arts Complex, 14th and Curtis streets. Colorado Ballet’s annual production of the famed holiday ballet, based on a story by E.T.A. Hoffmann. 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, with additional performances through Dec. 24. 2 hours. $19-$145. 303-837-8888 or .
Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com.
