ABT – Reyes & Cornejo 12/16

Much to cheer about in last night's performance of The Nutcracker at BAM.  First off, there were more people in the audience and more kids.  There were still a lot of unsold seats but the theater was not nearly as vacant looking as earlier in the week.

The ensemble gave the most animated, theatrical, and joyous performance that Haglund has seen to date, and it was all aimed at the kids in the audience.  The big mice, lead by King Vitali Krauchenka, were extremely spontaneous in their all-out war with the soldiers.  Their transformation from nasty mice with spinning fists ("Put up your dukes!") to Fosse-esque jazz line and back to nasty mice was hilarious.  The new Little Mouse, Jared Parker, is the smallest mouse to date.  Tiny, but he managed to climb out of the copper kettle and grab the sausage like a pro.  Meanwhile, the original littlest mouse, Justin Souriau-Levine, besides carrying mouse doodies duties in another cast, joined the cast of children in the party scene and energized this much younger group with his spunk.  These little ones truly owned their choreography last night.

The Nutcracker's Sisters (Misty Copeland, Sarah Lane, Maria Riccetto, Sarah Smith, and Leann Underwood) were as precise and coordinated a unit as could be.  Their skirts moved as one; their hats were identically tilted; their smiles were genuine.  All very pleasing to watch.

Gemma Bond and Joseph Gorak positively killed the Chinese section.  How Gorak got those legs into the air in a split leap so quickly is mind-boggling.  He and Gemma were darn near perfect. 

The high-flying high jinx of The Russians (Julio Bragado-Young, Luis Ribagorda, and Roman Zhurbin) were the favorites among the kids.  They've added comedic details and a little bit of Larry, Curly & Moe to their pas de trois and have made it one of the highlights of the production.

Clara and The Nutcracker Boy were portrayed by veterans Athena Petrizzo and Philip Perez while Fritz was performed by Benji Pearson.  All gave very assured and touching performances. 

Clara, The Princess and The Nutcracker Prince were beautifully danced by Xiomara Reyes and Herman Cornejo.  They only had two short PdDs and one variation each, but their time on stage was magical.  Haglund's only minor quibble was Herman's final pose of his variation.  Instead of the head-down-with-the-arm-straight-in-front like a little Nutcracker, he finished arms opened while facing the audience.  It was a nice pose, just not as nice as the other one.  Oh, and some of us missed his dark curls which were gelled back instead of loose.

Herman and Xiomara were smooth as brandy in their partnering.  Haglund just loves the supported pirouettes where Xiomara spots Herman's face instead of looking outward toward the audience.  Not every couple has done that, and it's a nice effect.  The final Grigorovich-inspired lift into the air was produced with swiftness and perfect coordination – the best of the three couples so far.  Their side by side diagonal line of double pique step-over turns was at a blistering speed and perfect.  It sure was a welcome sight to see Herman's slicing allegro, beautifully formed jumps, and fine princely lines.  He was missed so much last spring while injured, and what we had to put up with as a substitute was awful and at times gross in comparison.  

The evening's Pump Bump Award, a stunning Diego-Dolcini stiletto with Swarovski crystal elements ($1330), is bestowed upon Prince Herman: