The Nutcracker and The Mouse King

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King

Author Hans Gerritsen  (c) 2021 Dutch National Ballet (all rights reserved 

 

The Music Theatre The Nutcracker and the Mouse King 18 Dec 2021 and 24 Dev 2021 13:00

Between 1991 and 2003 Wayne Eagling was the Artistic Director of the Dutch National Ballet. In that role, he collaborated with Toer van Schayk to create The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.   On 18 and  24 Dec 2021 the work was live-streamed over the internet to audiences around the world. I watched both performances.

This ballet includes the Mouse King in the title for a reason. In other productions, the role of the mouse king is quite limited.  He leads his mice into battle against the toy soldiers and begins to gain the upper hand until Clara clobbers him.  In Eagling's version, he appears first at the Stahlbaums' party, later as a nightmare as Clara tries to sleep, next as the leader of the mice and finally in a duel with the prince.  The battle between mice and soldiers seems to symbolize a struggle between chaos and order which echoes in the boys' mithering their sisters or the Arabs dragging their captives.

Eagling's collaboration with van Schayk has led to all sorts of fantastic creations.   A giant pink-eyed monster rodent, an autonomous walking robot of a nutcracker and the fantastic machine with its circular centre-piece that at one point turns itself into a massive feline compete with a moving paw in the final confrontation with the mouse king and a ruined temple for the mirliton scene.   So much more compelling than a kingdom of the sweets with the Spanish, Arabs and Chinese dances representing chocolate, coffee and tea.

The two shows had different casts and each is to be congratulated.  Clara was danced by Maia Makhateli on 18 Dec and Riho Sakamoto on 24. Sakamoto has recently been promoted to principal which pleases me considerably as I have been following her progress ever since she joined the Junior Company in 2014 (see Riho Sakamoto promoted to principal).  Makhateli was magnificent as she always is and was partnered gallantly by Jakob Feyferlik,   Also impressive were Edo Wijnen who danced the nutcracker, Vito  Mazzeo who was Drosselmeyer and James Stout who was the mouse king.   Sadly I do not yet have a cast list for the Christmas eve matinee and I can't be sure who performed the leading roles other than Sakamoto.

Live screening is better than nothing but it is not the same as attending the theatre.   Theatre - particularly ballet - is two-way communication.  A good audience lifts the artists to new heights.   I am sure the dancers were aware that viewers like me around the world were cheering ourselves hoarse and clapping till our palms were sore but that's not the same as hearing us.  The Netherlands like the UK has had to cope with the "o" strain at the worse possible time and the season may have to be curtailed for public health reasons.  But one day the pandemic will be over in both countries.  When it is, my priority will be to watch this ballet live.

English National Ballet at the Liverpool Empire

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English National Ballet The Nutcracker Liverpool Empire, 30 Nov 2019, 19:30

For many children who grew up in London and the Southeast in the 1960s and 1970s, the London Festival Ballet's Christmas seasons at the Royal Festival Hall offered a welcome alternative to pointless dialogues with the likes of Buttons or Wishee-Washee.  Instead of chanting "It's behind you" or "Oh no it isn't", they could marvel at Drosselmeyer's wizardry or the Sugarplum Fairy's daintiness.  The stage may have been less than ideal as the auditorium was a concert hall but those performances were superb.  Countless children developed a lifelong love of theatre in general and ballet in particular by those shows. Many of them will have pestered their parents for ballet lessons. At least a few will have been inspired to dance professionally.

The company has evolved since then.  It changed its name to English National Ballet or ENB many years ago. It has recently acquired new premises.  It has an impressive repertoire that includes groundbreaking new works.  It has performed to critical acclaim in many great opera houses and is recognized as one of the world's great companies.  Notwithstanding all those developments, it still performs The Nutcracker at Christmas though in conventional theatres rather than the Royal Festival Hall.  The version that it now performs was created by Wayne Eagling who directed the Dutch National Ballet between 1991 and 2003 and the English National Ballet between 2006 and 2012. He choreographed the Dutch National Ballet's version of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (see the trailer for the current season).  I had previously seen ENB's version at the Coliseum in 2013 with Vadum Muntagirov and Daria Klimentiva in the leading roles (see Cracking 14 Dec 2013). I saw it again at the Liverpool Empire on 30 Nov 2019.

In my previous review I wrote:

"English National's current version of The Nutcracker is by Wayne Eagling and he has made a few changes to Petipa's choreography and Hoffmann's story such as setting it by the Thames rather than somewhere in Mitteleuropa, casting Clara as a grown woman fusing her with The Sugar Plum Fairy and letting the mouse hang on (literally) into the second Act which I am not altogether sure that I like. Turning Clara into an adult in particular takes away some of the innocence and indeed charm of a ballet which for me and many others is about sweets, toy soldiers and rampaging rodents."

I would still make those same criticisms today.  However, I added:

"Despite those reservations, I thoroughly enjoyed The Nutcracker on the opening night of its Christmas season. It will be at the Coliseum until 5 Jan 2014. It is well worth seeing for Daria Klimentova and Vadim Muntagirov's brilliance, for Peter Farmer's designs, for the sparkling Spanish, Arabic and Russian dances and other divertissements in the second Act and the wonderful character artistry by Junor Souza as the Nutcracker and James Streeter as King Mouse. There are some cute touches like a rat in a kilt in Act 1 (which may become a regular feature in English versions if Scotland votes the wrong way in September), using a mousetrap as a catapult and the substitution of a balloon for a sleigh as a transport to the kingdom of sweets and the land of dreams."

I would also stand by the same commendation with the obvious observation that Junor Souza had been elevated to the Nutcracker in Liverpool and Shiori Kase danced Clara as an adult.  I think on balance that I prefer Eagling's version to Peter Wright's for the Royal Ballet and David Nixon's for Northern but I like Wright's version for the Birmingham Royal Ballet and Peter Darrell's for Scottish Ballet even more.

Kase was a delicious Sugarplum and Brooklyn Mack her gallant beau.  Streeter danced the Mouse King again in a thoroughly murine manner. So much so that he received a few unmerited boos at the reverence until he removed his mouse headgear whereupon h received deafening applause. Fabian Raimar was an impressive Drosselmeyer.  Drosselmeyer is probably key to the success of any performance of The Nutcracker since he appears in almost every scene.  I liked all the divertissements and congratulate all the artists who took part whose names are too numerous to mention.  If I had to single out any single performer it would be Precious Adams who led the flowers and snowflakes with consummate grace.  The advertised conductor was Gary Cornelius but the maestro who took the applause looked very much like Huddersfield's very own Gavin Sutherland.

Liverpool is a great place to watch ballet because the audience is always appreciative.  Possibly the best place in the United Kingdom and I say that as a native Mancunian and an adopted Londoner. Liverpudlians are England's Neapolitans.  If they like a show they do not so much clap and cheer as stamp and holler. The Empire's audience made a lot of noise on the Saturday night before last.

The Nutcracker is about to open in London where it will compete after Christmas with Birmingham's version in the Albert Hall but not with the Royal Ballet's this year.  Both shows are worth watching but readers are warned tickets will not be easy to get for either show.

The Good Nutcracker Guide

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Those who like The Nutcracker have a choice of three versions this year since all three of our flagship companies are staging the ballet this Christmas. The Royal Ballet and the Birmingham Royal Ballet offer their own versions of Sir Peter Wright's production in London and Birmingham respectively while English National will tour with Wayne Eagling's.

My first choice is the Royal Ballet's. I prefer the story where the fight between the mice and toy soldiers is confined to a dream in Act I and Act II is one great divertissement.  In Wayne Eagling's the battle is central to the story and continues into Act II as the mouse king follows Clara and Drosselmeyer by grasping the gondola of their balloon. In the Dutch National Ballet's version, which is also by Eagling and most recently performed last year, the work is actually called The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.   I suppose it becomes a sort of metaphor for the struggle between good and evil.  Another big difference between Wright's versions and Eagling's is that Clara morphs into the Sugar Plum in the latter.

There are some differences between the Birmingham and London versions of Wright's ballet. The Royal Ballet's designs are by Julia Trevelyan Oman whereas BRB's are by John Macfarlane. There are also differences between Eagling's versions for the Dutch and English National Ballets in that ENB's designs are by Peter Farmer whereas Het's are  by Toer van Schayk. However, van Schayk influences the choreography of the English version.

Audiences who want to see the Royal Ballet can catch it at Covent Garden between the 23 Nov and 12 Jan 2017. It will also be streamed to cinemas throughout the UK and the rest of the world on 8 Dec 2016. BRB's will run from 25 Nov 2016 to 13 Dec 2015 at the Birmingham Hippodrome. English National's will start in Milton Keynes between 23 and 26 Nov 2016, proceed to the Liverpool Empire between 29 Nov and 3 Dec 2016, and finish its run at the Coliseum between 14 Dec and 7 Jan 2017. It will also be performed in Southampton between 29 Nov and 2 Dec 2017.

It has been some time since I last saw either of Sir Peter's versions because I could find no reviews in the archives of my blog but I can offer you a review of Eagling's for ENB from three years ago (see Cracking 14 Dec 2013). I remember that performance particularly because it was almost the last time that I saw Vadim Muntagirov and Daria Klimentova dance together. I have seen and reviewed several other versions since including the revival of Peter Darrell's for Scottish Ballet (see Like meeting an old friend after so many years 4 Jan 2015) and David Nixon's for Northern (see Northern Nutcracker 19 Dec 2015) but neither of those companies is running a version of The Nutcracker this year. There is also some background information on The Nutcracker on my resource page for the ballet which I really should update.

Dutch Nationl Ballet Gala - Le Grand Défilé

Le Grand Défilé

Photo Michel Schnater
(C) 2016 Dutch National Ballet: All rights reserved
Licensed by kind permission of Richard Heideman

Dutch National Ballet, Gala, Stopera, 7 Sept 2016 


Nothing gives a better impression of the strength of the Dutch National Ballet and the Dutch National Ballet Academy than the Grand Défilé or big parade that begins the gala that opens the Amsterdam ballet season. As the curtain rises the first year students of the Academy present themselves to the audience. The girls are in light blue leotards and the boys in white t-shirts. They give way to the second year and so on until the Junior Company appear. They in turn give way to the élèves who are succeeded by the corps  and each and every other rank in the company until the ballerinas and premiers danseurs nobles.  All to the strains of the polonaise from Tchaikovsky's The Sleeping Beauty.

Compared to the Paris Opera Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet and the Mariinsky the Dutch National Ballet is very new. It will celebrate its 70th anniversary next year. But it has achieved much in its 69 years as the timeline on the company's website indicates. In his speech at last year's gala Ted Brandsen remarked that there had been no balletic tradition in the Netherlands before 1947 (see The best evening I have ever spent at the ballet 13 Sept 2015). The Dutch can and do take enormous pride in those achievements.

Of course, like all great companies the Dutch National Ballet is international. Artists of many nationalities have contributed to its success including some from our country. Wayne Eagling was the company's artistic director between 1991 and 2003. David Dawson is one of its associate artists. Matthew Rowe is, its director of music and principal conductor. Judy Maelor Thomas, who assisted Ted Brandsen with the choreography of the Grand Défilé, is the company's ballet mistress. More than a few of the dancers trained at the Royal Ballet School including its great ballerina, Igone de Jongh and the artistic coordinator of the Junior Company, Ernst Meisner.

The links between the Netherlands and the United Kingdom go back a very long way. David Bintley mentions the tour of the Vic-Wells Ballet to the Netherlands on the eve of the German invasion in Dancing in the Blitz: How World War II made British Ballet. The links are not all one way. Meisner, for example, was a very popular dancer at the Royal Ballet. He continues to contribute to British ballet through the New English Ballet Theatre and the Royal Ballet School summer programme. According to Bintley, the flower throw which I had always regarded as a quintessentially English tradition was invented by the Dutch who showered the Vic-Wells dancers with flowers on their visit in 1940.

The company's press officer, Richard Heideman, has sent me some lovely pictures of the gala of which this is only the first. My next post will be on the extract from La Bayadere.

Maybe we do have a Junior Company in England after all

I have written quite a lot about the Dutch National Ballet Junior Company and why I think it is a good idea. In Ernst Meisner’s Work with the Dutch National Ballet 2 Dec 2014, Ernst Meisner, Artistic Co-ordinator of the Junior Company explains how it came into being. He gave more details on his work with the company in The Junior Company 3 Dec 2014.

I last saw the Junior Company in Ballet Bubbles on 14 Feb 2016. Before the show Ernst gave a little talk about the company and he stressed that it provides opportunities not just for outstanding young dancers but promising stage and costume designers, lighting engineers and technical staff too.   I wrote a little more about those opportunities in Opportunities Not Just for Dancers 26 May 2016.

I was reminded of Ernst speech and his earlier interviews when I checked out the website of the New English Ballet Theatre. The reason I did that is that the London Ballet Circle has been invited to attend the company's choreographic lab Taking Chances at the Rambert Studios on 15 Oct 2016. On checking through the website I noticed that Ernst is one of its choreographers as indeed is Wayne Eagling who was the Dutch National Ballet's Artistic Director before he returned to London to direct the English National Ballet.

On the About page I listened to the above video and read under "Who we are":

"We are a modern ballet company with a mission to present exciting new work to the widest possible audience. We are committed to the continual reinvention of classical ballet and giving artists the creative space to explore its boundaries. What makes us different is how we work with talented young people from a variety of disciplines. We have a company of exceptional dancers, but we also seek out choreographers, musicians, designers and visual artists. As a new company, we have the creative freedom to drive ballet forward, showcasing the strength, athleticism and agility of the next generation."

 I was even more fascinated by "Who inspires us":

"We have bold ambitions as a company, drawing inspiration from the likes of Sergei Diaghilev and George Balanchine. A pioneer in every sense, Diaghilev founded the Ballet Russes, a company which brought together the best young Russian dancers of the day, including Anna Pavlova and Vaslav Nijinsky. Determined to create groundbreaking work, Diaghilev also commissioned some of the most famous composers of the 20th century, from Stravinsky and Ravel to Strauss and Prokofiev. This spirit of collaboration also extended to artists and he worked with Picasso and Matisse among others.
We set out to emulate Diaghilev’s all-embracing approach to the creation of new work, building a company in the style of the Ballet Russes for the 21st century."

That inspires me too.  I shall be at the choreographic lab on 15 Oct 2016 and I shall follow the company with great interest.

All those Nutcrackers

The Nutcracker is always popular this time of the year but this year we have an unusually heavy crop. In the UK we have:

• The Royal Ballet's up to 14 Jan 2016 at Covent Garden which is almost entirely sold out;
• The Birmingham Royal Ballet's until 13 Dec at the Birmingham Hippodrome which is almost sold out;
• English National Ballet's at the Coliseum from 16 Dec 2015 to 10 Jan 2016 where the tickets are selling like hot cakes; and 
• Northern Ballet's at the Grand in Leeds from 16 Dec 2015 until 2 Jan 2016 for which there is still some availability.

You can also watch the Royal Ballet's cinema transmission on the 16 Dec and the Bolshoi's on the 20 Dec 2015 (see Live Performances streamed from the Bolshoi and Covent Garden 20 Sept 2015). 

If you live in Scotland you had the chance to see Peter Darrell's version for Scottish Ballet last year which I reviewed in Like meeting an old friend after so many years 4 Jan 2015. You will have to wait until the new year to see Ballet West's (see Ballet West's Next Tour 2 Dec 2015).

Outside the UK I would love to see Jeroen Verbruggen for the Geneva Ballet which is about to tour France (see Geneva Nutcracker 25 Nov 2015).  Also on offer is Wayne Eagling's The Nutcracker and the Mouse King the synopsis of which sounds very similar to English National Ballet's except that the Stahlbaums have become the Staalbooms and seem to have acquired a pad in Amsterdam as well as another on the banks of the Thames.

Although I grew up with English National Ballet's I have not really taken to Eagling's version. I don't take kindly to Anglicizing the Stahlbaums or indeed transposing Swan Lake from Mitteleuropa to New England. If I wanted  innovation in my favourite ballets I would go to Matthew Bourne or Verbruggen.

Having said that I shall be in the audience with my classmates from The Dance Studio Leeds on the 18 Dec 2015 to see the adventures of "Clara Edwards" in Northern Ballet's and I will also try to catch Ballet West's and the Bolshoi's HDTV transmission. Alas I shall miss the Royal Ballet's which is by far the best in my book. As I can't get to the so called "Midlands engine" to see it this year I shall catch Peter Wright's version from the Birmingham Royal Ballet in November or December next year.

Whichever version you patronize, chums, enjoy it.

Cracking!

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English National Ballet The Nutcracker The Coliseum 11 Dec 2918, 19:30

One of the pleasures of Christmas growing up in Surrey in the nineteen sixties and early seventies was London Festival Ballet's Nutcracker at the Royal Festival Hall. It quickly became part of the London Christmas like the Regent Street illuminations and the Norwegian spruce in Trafalgar Square.  It would appear from Alistair Macaulay's Nutcracker Chronicles in the New York Times when he set out to see 20 versions across the USA in December 2010 that there is a similar tradition elsewhere though not everywhere for Tamara Rojo writes in the programme for English National Ballet's current production that the first time she saw the work was when she was asked to dance in it for Scottish Ballet. The tradition continues though London Festival Ballet has changed its name to English National Ballet and it is now at the Coliseum and not the Festival Hall.

English National's current version of The Nutcracker is by Wayne Eagling and he has made a few changes to Petipa's choreography and Hoffmann's story such as setting it by the Thames rather than somewhere in Mitteleuropa, casting Clara as a grown woman fusing her with The Sugar Plum Fairy and letting the mouse hang on (literally) into the second Act which I am not altogether sure that I like. Turning Clara into an adult in particular takes away some of the innocence and indeed charm of a ballet which for me and many others is about sweets, toy soldiers and rampaging rodents.

Despite those reservations, I thoroughly enjoyed The Nutcracker on the opening night of its Christmas season. It will be at the Coliseum until the 5 Jan 2014.  It is well worth seeing for Daria Klimentova and Vadim Muntagirov's brilliance, for Peter Farmer's designs, for the sparkling Spanish, Arabic and Russian dances and other divertissements in the second Act and the wonderful character artistry by Junor Souza as the Nutcracker and James Streeter as King Mouse. There are some cute touches like a rat in a kilt in Act 1 (which may become a regular feature in English versions if Scotland votes the wrong way in September), using a mousetrap as a catapult and the substitution of a balloon for a sleigh as a transport to the kingdom of sweets and the land of dreams.

In the last 12 months I have seen Northern Ballet's Nutcracker at The Grand in Leeds, Ballet West's in Pitlochry and now English National's at the Coliseum as well as live streaming of the Royal Ballet's version from Covent Garden last year. Nothing like as many as Mr. Macaulay saw in his marathon but still a fair number. Do I have a favourite? Oh please don't ask me that for it is like asking parents to choose between their children. I love them all. I am just so grateful to every dancer who has ever been on the stage for his or her vocation and for sticking at it through years of training and risking injury to bring unadulterated pleasure to millions like me.