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The Australian Ballet's Nutcracker is as good as promised. The detail in the choreography and presentation makes it a rich experience for audiences of any age. Those with sophisticated dance knowledge will admire the technique; all of us can lose ourselves in the magic.
Peter Wright's production - originally created for the Birmingham Royal Ballet in 1990 - builds on the traditions of the ballet choreographed by Lev Ivanov a century before, using choreography by Ivanov, Vincent Redmon and himself.
The result is an amalgam of past and present. It opens with a storybook cast of a family with servants and a lifestyle structured by formality, yet the narrative develops to reflect the speed and colour expected of entertainment today.
John F. Macfarlane has designed superb costumes and sets that appear and disappear in smooth transformation scenes, combining historic benchmarks with vivid contemporary touches that animate the familiar scenario. Nicolette Fraillon conducts the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra through Tchaikovsky's tuneful music at a brisk pace.
Opening night was the best performance I have seen from the company all year: seamless at the centre, crisp on the edges.
Madeleine Eastoe gave a delightfully danced and characterised portrayal in the central role of the teenage Clara, young enough to get a doll for Christmas but old enough to fall in love.
As the prince of her dreams, Robert Curran leads her through snow and wind to a fantasy land where he nobly partners the Sugar Plum Fairy in the legendary grand pas, which Lucinda Dunn danced in bravura style, turning its challenges into a series of thrilling balletic flourishes that raised the evening's performing level an extra notch.
This second act is full of featured opportunities the dancers make the most of: for instance, Danielle Rowe in the Arabian dance, Gaylene Cummerfield as the Rose Fairy and, in the matinee on Saturday, Tzu-Chao Chou, Daniel Gaudiello and Kevin Jackson in the Russian dance. In this production, Clara dances with the fantasy figures, which does a lot for her role and the continuity of the piece.
Act one is strengthened by dovetailing of the social dances and the characters it involves - such as Kathleen Geldard as Grandmother with a spring in her step and a finely turned ankle, the elegant former ballerina mother played with wistful grace by Lisa Bolte, and the slightly scary magician given great presence by Steven Heathcote.
The less experienced dancers in the matinee were generally not quite as precise and confident, but Gina Brescianini was a vivacious and charming Clara, Rachael Rawlins a lyrical Sugar Plum Fairy and Remi Wortmeyer a Prince with personality and promise.
