I love the Nutcracker, as I love all three of the Tchaikovsky ballets. So I'd see any production of either ballet. This said, when I read that Maurice Bejart was responsible for this Nutcracker, I was in two minds whether it would work. Sadly, on the most part this production doesn't work. It does have its redeeming values, the start is very poignant, the orchestral playing does have that festive lyrical sparkle you'd associate with The Nutcracker, Gil Roman is a commanding Mephisto, the lighting is just perfect and the costumes apart from the drably coloured costumes for the pas-De-Deux(I would have preferred white myself) are decent.
However, while the dancing is technically accomplished excepting the lack of balance and fluidity in the pas-De-Deux, I didn't feel enough of the feeling and passion that makes you connect with the characters in the first place. The choreography was mixed, some were technically brilliant but others came across as disjointed complete with the equivalent of prostitution and transvestites. The sets are not colourful or festive, instead they are aggressively ugly and look as though they belong somewhere else. The additional popular music I didn't care for on their own terms and jarred with the lushness of the rest of the music. What was poignant to start with immediately turned cloying after Dance of the Snowflakes. But my biggest beef with this Nutcracker is to do with Bejart. Now before viewers who enjoyed this point the gun and pull the trigger(I have seen how defensive and condescending those with differing opinions get and I do find it incredibly annoying), I don't mind production that are different. I see it all the time with opera productions(which I am a huge fan of and is actually more my area of expertise), and find there are touches that are interesting. But what made me dislike Bejart's style here was that not only was it completely out of sync with the music and the story but it came across as very self-indulgent, narcissistic and far too personal. The accordion player was completely out of place, and the batting and smiling got on my nerves. Bejart talking directly to the viewers disrupts the flow of the performance also, and Bejart's grandmother talking was painfully ironic to me. Roman as Petipa even introduces the Act 2 divertissement saying that the pas-De-Deux would be danced in its original version. This came across as smarmy and insulting, mainly because this couldn't have been more further from the truth.
Overall, the start was good but the rest was a mess. 4/10 Bethany Cox
However, while the dancing is technically accomplished excepting the lack of balance and fluidity in the pas-De-Deux, I didn't feel enough of the feeling and passion that makes you connect with the characters in the first place. The choreography was mixed, some were technically brilliant but others came across as disjointed complete with the equivalent of prostitution and transvestites. The sets are not colourful or festive, instead they are aggressively ugly and look as though they belong somewhere else. The additional popular music I didn't care for on their own terms and jarred with the lushness of the rest of the music. What was poignant to start with immediately turned cloying after Dance of the Snowflakes. But my biggest beef with this Nutcracker is to do with Bejart. Now before viewers who enjoyed this point the gun and pull the trigger(I have seen how defensive and condescending those with differing opinions get and I do find it incredibly annoying), I don't mind production that are different. I see it all the time with opera productions(which I am a huge fan of and is actually more my area of expertise), and find there are touches that are interesting. But what made me dislike Bejart's style here was that not only was it completely out of sync with the music and the story but it came across as very self-indulgent, narcissistic and far too personal. The accordion player was completely out of place, and the batting and smiling got on my nerves. Bejart talking directly to the viewers disrupts the flow of the performance also, and Bejart's grandmother talking was painfully ironic to me. Roman as Petipa even introduces the Act 2 divertissement saying that the pas-De-Deux would be danced in its original version. This came across as smarmy and insulting, mainly because this couldn't have been more further from the truth.
Overall, the start was good but the rest was a mess. 4/10 Bethany Cox