The Australian Ballet: Sir Peter Wright’s The Nutcracker
Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House
Reviewed: November 30
It was the night before summer, and the Sydney Opera House was buzzing with energy. Crowds gathered at The Forecourt wearing waterproof ponchos to watch Troye Sivan, while Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring rang through the Concert Hall – and in the Joan Sutherland Theatre, the Australian Ballet’s 2024 season premiere of Sir Peter Wright’s The Nutcracker pulled a sold-out show. Australian audiences have seen many a Nutcracker, from the Borovansky Ballet in 1955, to Lev Ivanov’s Casse-Noisette in 1979, and Graeme Murphy’s Nutcracker – The Story of Clara in 1992, but this is the Australian Ballet’s first season of The Nutcracker with Artistic Director David Hallberg at the helm. Wright’s version, created in 1990, follows the original St Petersburg Imperial Theatre production from 1892 closely, drawing on Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov’s choreography alongside Tchaikovsky’s timeless score. However, the ballet has had its fair share of controversies, and concerns regarding its relevance persist. Thus, the company’s approach to this rich and complex history for its 2024 restaging has much to say about the future of the tradition of performing this ballet.
Act 1 opened with Mia Heathcote as Clara and Callum Linnane as Drosselmeyer, both performing with strong theatricality and pantomime. Clara’s tussle with her brother, played convincingly by Matthew Mortimer, was performed with perfect exaggeration and comic timing. The move into Clara’s dream world and the Rat King battle brought the stage to life. This scene was engaging and energising, and the excellent footwork of the corps de ballet men as rats and soldiers revealed sharp technique across the company. In the role of the Nutcracker Prince, Principal Joseph Caley was charming, with an expert balance of expressiveness, technique and clearly solid partnering. Rina Nemoto was effervescent as the Snow Fairy, a master of control whose technical prowess allows for playful dynamism. She was supported by a shining corps de ballet of Snowflakes with tight footwork and formal precision, whose high-level of training was shown when a strange hiccup post-curtain led the curtain to unexpectedly reascend – I didn’t see a single dancer move from their closing position.
In Act 2 Clara’s fantasy takes over and we are transported to a strange world of character dances. This is the first time the company has performed The Nutcracker since the 2019 controversies around the performance of the Chinese dance with "yellowface". [Ed's note: the current version has an updated Chinese dance.] Unsurprisingly, a sense of tension could be felt throughout the act – with the Australian Ballet’s new generation of young dancers eager to reshape the art form in a way that feels relevant, ethical and inclusive, the performing of what can be construed as cultural stereotype no doubt elicits discomfort. That being said, all divertissements were performed well, with Imogen Chapman and Brodie James’s Arabian Dance as a highlight. Sharni Spencer and Joseph Caley in the Sugar Plum Fairy Pas de deux were exquisite, and the pair’s attention to detail, expressive ports de bras and musicality did justice to a demanding piece of classical choreography.
Wright’s production strengthens the narrative with costumes and sets by John Macfarlane and lighting by David Finn. When the stage curtain, itself covered with a Surrealist-style Christmas painting reminiscent of a Leonora Carrington, lifted, gasps were heard throughout the theatre as audiences revelled in the resplendence of a traditional Christmas scene, complete with giant tree, fireplace, footmen and a towering pile of gifts. As we are transported to the dark and dramatic world of the Rat Battle, then to the airy and light-filled Snow Kingdom, the use of colour, props, lighting and special effects create a rich visual world that heightens the impact of Clara’s magical journey.
The Nutcracker is, at its core, a fairytale. Despite the ballet’s popularity today, its 1892 premiere was criticised as a decadent ballet-féèrie, a performance genre from France that emphasises the fantastical and merveilleuse. However, it is this “magical” quality of The Nutcracker that will allow the ballet to retain its relevance – its performance is not just a portal to the classical, but also a way to reimagine the contemporary. Taking Clara’s own journey as a cue, dancers today should allow their imaginations a little freedom and engage with the magic and mystery of the ballet on their own terms, rather than as an impossibly challenging and dusty tradition wheeled out on display once a year. I appreciate Hallberg’s decision to persevere with the classical tradition – it is important to keep a relationship with the past, particularly for an ephemeral art form like dance. However, the future of ballet in Australia depends on fearlessness when approaching classical work – a fearlessness to meet tradition with agency, imagination and energy. We are in a new age, with new understandings of what it means to be human – and dance, with its otherworldly and magical possibilities, is the perfect vehicle to explore that.
– BELLE BEASLEY
'The Nutcracker' continues in Sydney until December 18. It will also be streamed on-line from December 12–26.