George Balanchine's The Nutcracker

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Choreography
Review: "The star of this company has always been choreography"--Peter Martins

Peter Martins, Artistic Director of the New York City Ballet (NYCB), makes an excellent point, and this is one of the most compelling reasons to give serious consideration to this particular version of "The Nutcracker." George Balanchine's choreography is commendable for its musicalness. He used to say, "The music comes first," and this ballet features an outstanding musical score by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. This video is not just a dance film, but also a feature film that played in theaters. Movie star Macaulay Culkin plays the Nutcracker. He was formerly a student at the School of American Ballet (SAB). Other children from SAB also dance in this production, including Jessica Lynn Cohen as Marie. The principal dancers are Darci Kistler as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Damian Woetzel as her Cavalier, Kyra Nichols as Dewdrop, and Wendy Whelan as Coffee--these talented NYCB artists bring out the expert detail of Balanchine's choreography.

This production was taped in a studio setting, not during a live performance. Consequently, there was ample opportunity for multiple outtakes until they got everything just how they wanted it. There are no bobbles, tiny mistakes or slips on the stage by the dancers. The same is true for the orchestra, and they play with finesse. The dancing is not only good technically, but also theatrically. (It is my general impression that dancers put more emphasis on their facial expressions in feature films than in live performances, and this video is no exception.) There is another thing about this title that makes it special: it is a fine all-around production. There are nice costumes and scenery. There are some expert comedic touches here, not corny stuff like the dancing chickens that are found in another famous ballet. The camera angles are well thought out, and there are also some very effective video special effects used, such as slow motion. A libretto is provided in the form of narration. Overall, this is a high quality production.

There is a comprehensive analysis of this title in Robert Greskovic's book, "Ballet 101: A Complete Guide to Learning & Loving the Ballet." He writes, Balanchine's Nutcracker "records the American production that was probably more responsible than any other for giving rise to the nationwide popularity the ballet possesses in the United Sates in the twentieth century. This is the production devised by Balanchine in 1954, recalling the staging he was brought up with when he was a young student and dancer in St. Petersburg (1915-1924)." (p. 254) Greskovic's excellent book is also for sale at Amazon.com.

There are many different commercial versions of this ballet available, and this is one of the best to choose from. Some have a Sugar Plum Fairy, and some don't. In those that don't, Sugar Plum's parts are acquired by Marie, who is usually much older in age. Although Darci Kistler and Damian Woetzel's performance in the grand pas de deux is enjoyable, I personally prefer the versions where Marie and the Nutcracker Prince dance the part together instead, because it seems more natural to me that the two main characters dance the musical climax. Unfortunately, the productions that omit Sugar Plum often do not include children in them, and I find that the early numbers in act one work better with real children, rather than adults posing as children. So, it's usually a tradeoff. I particularly enjoy the NYCB corps routines to "Waltz of the Snowflakes" and "Waltz of the Flowers"--featuring Balanchine's outstanding choreography. Many young dancers from SAB appear in this film, and that makes it attractive to young children. This is an excellent production for the entire family to enjoy together....

Rating:
Summary: Balanchine's Nutcracker Is Divine!
Review: "The Nutcracker" was first staged for the Russian Czar's Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg by choreographer Lev Ivanov (choreographer of the famous 'lakeside scene' in "Swan Lake") in 1892. The ballet was originally meant to be choreographed by the great 19th century ballet master Marius Petipa (creator of "Don Quixote", "La Bayadere", "The Sleeping Beauty", "Swan Lake" among others), however he fell ill before rehearsal began and the responsabilty of the dances was given to his assistant, Lev Ivanov. Petipa commissioned the ballet from Tchaikovsky in 1891 after thier earlier success with "The Sleeping Beauty". Petipa wrote down detailed instructions in a 'bar for bar' manner. Tchaikovsky fullfilled his task with one of the ultimate master works of theater.

George Balanchine's production of this great classic for the New York City Ballet has been world famous since its premiere, and it shows why in this awesome movie version of the great work. Mackauly Culkin is in it (I guess to get everyone to see it), but other wise its all ballet dancers here, and they are all great. The second act dances are masterfully choreographed. Darci Kistler and Damien Woetzell do Balanchine proud in thier grand pas de deux, and the snowflake waltz is lovely as well. For a more authentic production see Peter Wrights production for the Royal Ballet on film, which makes a great companion to this one. Five Stars!

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Choreography
Review: "The star of this company has always been choreography"--Peter Martins

Peter Martins, Artistic Director of the New York City Ballet (NYCB), makes an excellent point, and this is one of the most compelling reasons to give serious consideration to this particular version of "The Nutcracker." George Balanchine's choreography is commendable for its musicalness. He used to say, "The music comes first," and this ballet features an outstanding musical score by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. This video is not just a dance film, but also a feature film that played in theaters. Movie star Macaulay Culkin plays the Nutcracker. He was formerly a student at the School of American Ballet (SAB). Other children from SAB also dance in this production, including Jessica Lynn Cohen as Marie. The principal dancers are Darci Kistler as the Sugar Plum Fairy, Damian Woetzel as her Cavalier, Kyra Nichols as Dewdrop, and Wendy Whelan as Coffee--these talented NYCB artists bring out the expert detail of Balanchine's choreography.

This production was taped in a studio setting, not during a live performance. Consequently, there was ample opportunity for multiple outtakes until they got everything just how they wanted it. There are no bobbles, tiny mistakes or slips on the stage by the dancers. The same is true for the orchestra, and they play with finesse. The dancing is not only good technically, but also theatrically. (It is my general impression that dancers put more emphasis on their facial expressions in feature films than in live performances, and this video is no exception.) There is another thing about this title that makes it special: it is a fine all-around production. There are nice costumes and scenery. There are some expert comedic touches here, not corny stuff like the dancing chickens that are found in another famous ballet. The camera angles are well thought out, and there are also some very effective video special effects used, such as slow motion. A libretto is provided in the form of narration. Overall, this is a high quality production.

There is a comprehensive analysis of this title in Robert Greskovic's book, "Ballet 101: A Complete Guide to Learning & Loving the Ballet." He writes, Balanchine's Nutcracker "records the American production that was probably more responsible than any other for giving rise to the nationwide popularity the ballet possesses in the United Sates in the twentieth century. This is the production devised by Balanchine in 1954, recalling the staging he was brought up with when he was a young student and dancer in St. Petersburg (1915-1924)." (p. 254) Greskovic's excellent book is also for sale at Amazon.com.

There are many different commercial versions of this ballet available, and this is one of the best to choose from. Some have a Sugar Plum Fairy, and some don't. In those that don't, Sugar Plum's parts are acquired by Marie, who is usually much older in age. Although Darci Kistler and Damian Woetzel's performance in the grand pas de deux is enjoyable, I personally prefer the versions where Marie and the Nutcracker Prince dance the part together instead, because it seems more natural to me that the two main characters dance the musical climax. Unfortunately, the productions that omit Sugar Plum often do not include children in them, and I find that the early numbers in act one work better with real children, rather than adults posing as children. So, it's usually a tradeoff. I particularly enjoy the NYCB corps routines to "Waltz of the Snowflakes" and "Waltz of the Flowers"--featuring Balanchine's outstanding choreography. Many young dancers from SAB appear in this film, and that makes it attractive to young children. This is an excellent production for the entire family to enjoy together....

Rating:
Summary: Even as an unsophisticated ruffian like myself....
Review: ... this was pretty good. I bought it so my girlfriend and i could watch it, because it was always something on our "to do" list. Well, i have to admit, it was entertaining. I'd never seen the play or heard about the story, so the content was very fresh to me. The musical score is, of course, very solid, and the extras on the DVD are also good to flip through. I like to know the historical background of stuff like this, so the extras did a very good job on those terms.

If you haven't seen the nutcracker and want to be entertained, pick this up. It's cheap!

Rating:
Summary: Hollywood does ballet
Review: A glitzy "Hollywood Musical" version of The Nutcracker.The children take the spotlight and they are basically a self-conscious bunch.The beloved Nutcracker without a soul.

Rating:
Summary: Impressive production; all-around fine performance; good DVD
Review: All things considered, I have to say that this is quite an enjoyable theatrical presentation of Balanchine's "The Nutcracker." Looking at "the show" itself, its most rave-worthy characteristic is how well the team of Peter Martins (ballet master), Emile Ardolino (director) and Ralf Bode (cinematographer) collaborated to actually "choreograph the camera" to the movements of the performers. Thanks to a talented movie crew and an incredible amount of consideration given to viewing angles (read the description in the disc's "special features"), the TV always seemed to be showing exactly what I wanted to look at on the stage. Add in some nice work by Industrial Light & Magic, decent narration, and a top-notch production team, and the result is a superb presentation.

From a performance standpoint, I'd give this an A-minus mainly because the versions of "The Nutcracker" I've seen most often cast the Nutcracker Prince in a much more active role dancewise. Still, everyone else did a fantastic job. Noteworthy were the Pas de Deux by the Cavalier (Damian Woetzel) and Sugarplum Fairy (Darci Kistler), and the powerful dance presence of Coffee (Wendy Whelan). The other "Sweets" performed very well also. So long as you try not to picture Macaulay Culkin as a ballet dancer, you'll be okay. Let's face it: you can't expect the little guy to measure up next to the NYC Ballet, but he is there to add a little star appeal and possibly sell ballet to your kids (which may not be a bad idea). Nuff said. By the way, the younger performers from the School of American Ballet were wonderful.

Regarding disc features, the DVD has some cool stuff to offer: two viewing formats, 30-scene index, and some good production notes regarding the history of the show, camera choreography and description of ILM's special effects.

Rating:
Summary: Impressive production; all-around fine performance; good DVD
Review: All things considered, I have to say that this is quite an enjoyable theatrical presentation of Balanchine's "The Nutcracker." Looking at "the show" itself, its most rave-worthy characteristic is how well the team of Peter Martins (ballet master), Emile Ardolino (director) and Ralf Bode (cinematographer) collaborated to actually "choreograph the camera" to the movements of the performers. Thanks to a talented movie crew and an incredible amount of consideration given to viewing angles (read the description in the disc's "special features"), the TV always seemed to be showing exactly what I wanted to look at on the stage. Add in some nice work by Industrial Light & Magic, decent narration, and a top-notch production team, and the result is a superb presentation.

From a performance standpoint, I'd give this an A-minus mainly because the versions of "The Nutcracker" I've seen most often cast the Nutcracker Prince in a much more active role dancewise. Still, everyone else did a fantastic job. Noteworthy were the Pas de Deux by the Cavalier (Damian Woetzel) and Sugarplum Fairy (Darci Kistler), and the powerful dance presence of Coffee (Wendy Whelan). The other "Sweets" performed very well also. So long as you try not to picture Macaulay Culkin as a ballet dancer, you'll be okay. Let's face it: you can't expect the little guy to measure up next to the NYC Ballet, but he is there to add a little star appeal and possibly sell ballet to your kids (which may not be a bad idea). Nuff said. By the way, the younger performers from the School of American Ballet were wonderful.

Regarding disc features, the DVD has some cool stuff to offer: two viewing formats, 30-scene index, and some good production notes regarding the history of the show, camera choreography and description of ILM's special effects.

Rating:
Summary: An expetacular presentation of the dancers
Review: Balanchine used all his inspiration in this performance. But, unfortunetly we had Macaulay in a terrible presentation.

Rating:
Summary: Best telling of The Story ever
Review: First of all, I KNOW poor Culkin can't dance. Lay off the kid, will ya? He was only a little boy and not responsible for his career choices (unlike Kevin Costner in Robin Hood). And I've seen that pained expression before, on a person forced to do something he couldn't handle. Besides, his stiffness and straining to remember his steps call attention to the excellence of all the other children, particularly Fritz. I like watching the perfection of the other children, seeing the results of their work, in contrast to the sketchy work of the star.

This is a great production! It uses children in the child roles, tries to make sense, via Kline's narration, of the threadbare remains of Hoffman's story, and is generally well-cast.

Some parts of this ballet will never make sense. In what homeworld is coffee considered a child's treat? (And when does coffee make you feel like THAT?) What the heck do shepard girls have to do with this, anyway? Are Sugar Plum and the Cavelier living together, or just friends?

But the dancing and costumes are lovely, from the opening scene right to the finale. And most important, it reaches out to kids--when you consider that this is often the first ballet they see, that's no small accomplishment.

Rating:
Summary: (...)opinion
Review: George Balanchine's Nutcracker is a must see ballet. Daraci Kistler (sugur plum fairy) looks amazing along with Damien Woetzell as the cavalier. Together as a team they made the whole ballet 10 times better. All of the dancer looked as though they had worked very hard to put together this wonderful production. The only problem I found was that Mackualy Calkin(nutcracker) and Jessica Lynn Cohen(Marie)did not fit the roles as well as they could have. But all in all the show is spectacular. The dances in the second act (with the excepetion of Hot Chocolate) were so intrieging that I could watch them again and again. I think this production must have made Balanchine proud and I loved the video. It is great for any one who loves and appreciated the art of dance.