National Ballet’s triumphant return of The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker

National Ballet of Canada. Choreography by James Kudelka. Until Dec. 31, at the Four Seasons Centre, 145 Queen St. W., www.national.ballet.ca or 416-345-9595, toll free 1-866-345-9595

It’s right there in the fine print. “All casting subject to change.” And for those who forget their magnifying glasses significant changes are also announced. In the athletically extreme art form known as ballet a twist of an ankle, or nowadays a runny nose and sore throat, can upend the best laid casting plans, Thus on Saturday, as the National Ballet of Canada opened a 25-show, budget-bolstering run of its 27-year-old yet evergreen, snow-dappled production of “The Nutcracker” there were plenty of changes; fortunately exciting ones.

Disappointing as it may have been for some expectant fans not to see the previously scheduled Koto Ishihara and Harrison James in the big lead roles, what they got instead was Genevieve Penn Nabity in a radiantly memorable debut performance as the Sugar Plum Fairy, partnered in the show’s most classically exacting dance number by Larkin Miller, also a role debut, as the Nutcracker Prince.

The Sugar Plum Fairy is only featured in the ballet’s last act. It’s a make-or-break situation as she emerges from designer Santo Loquasto’s huge Fabergé-style egg to establish the character’s sweetness of nature in a very tricky solo. Nabity looked so serene as she negotiated James Kudelka’s choreography that you’d think she’d been dancing the role for years; this despite what looked like a slippery spot centre stage that risked taking her legs from under her.

Nabity, famously promoted last June by artistic director Hope Muir from second soloist to top-rank principal dancer right on stage, has those rare ballerina qualities of poise and grace. Her musical instincts are so spot-on that movement flows from her body with a clarity and spontaneity that makes the artifice of ballet classicism look totally natural.

Although Larkin seemed perhaps a little nervous in partnering such an exquisite ballerina and had to cover a miscalculated landing in his own solo, overall he was a fine cavalier. In a ballet light on dramatic substance and character development, he made abundantly clear the depth of his romantic yearning for the lady in the egg. No wonder the sellout audience roared its approval.

By the time he partners the Sugar Plum Fairy, Larkin’s character is already very familiar. In Kudelka’s mildly non-traditional rendering of a 130-year-old ballet that in some other productions has been sliced and diced almost to extinction, there is a through-character called Peter.

We first see him as a stable boy sweeping a barn floor in preparation for a Christmas Eve party; cue a dancing horse and bears on roller blades and ballet point shoes.

To the delight of otherwise fractious siblings Marie and Misha — in this instance National Ballet School students Aviva Goad and Tom Hulshof — Peter captures an errant rat, which in fact more resembles a beaver, and with the help of their nanny, Baba, (Alejandra Perez-Gomez), does his best to offer the kind of adult affection the children’s cold, self-absorbed parents seem incapable of offering.

In the fantasy of the next scene Larkin becomes the embodiment of the coveted Nutcracker doll given to Marie by the mysterious Uncle Nikolai, expansively well danced by Ben Rudisin. In the midst of a gloriously chaotic battle scene featuring a menagerie of armoured animals, the Nutcracker is saved from the sabre of the czar of the Mice by the children.

Their reward is a trip to the realm of the Snow Queen (Svetlana Lunkina) who for their and the audience’s benefit performs a dance that requires two partners — Kota Sato and Spencer Hack — to elevate her into some rather odd and awkward lifts.

Peter, by now resplendent as a cavalier, then transports them after the intermission in a magical ship to the palace of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Marie and Misha continue their sparring until the realization that their beloved Peter is about to depart with a lovely maiden persuades them that they too need to grow up and stop behaving like total brats.

The National Ballet’s “Nutcracker” is by any standard spectacular, which considering what it cost to build — around $3 million or more in today’s money — it should be. It has more than enough action to hold the attention of the little ones and sufficient pure dancing to please ballet lovers. And, of course, it comes with live musical accompaniment courtesy of the National Ballet’s excellent orchestra. Under the direction of conductor David Briskin, Tchaikovsky’s familiar score may be enjoyed in all its brilliance.

Last December, the National Ballet had to cut short its run of “The Nutcracker” because of a COVID outbreak. Presumably, those who were thus unable to get their fix of a holiday-season tradition were quick to snap up tickets for this year’s edition. Apart from a few standing room tickets the entire run is officially sold out. Sounds like a scalper’s paradise.

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