"Partnering newcomer Swane Messaoudi, whose tall, long-legged body is a physical match for his, Simcoe performed his variation with his customary elegance and restraint, reserving the pyrotechnics for the coda. Messaoudi, who trained in her native France and with San Francisco Ballet, danced with technical skill and confidence, but could improve on how she interacts with the children in the cast, particularly the gliding small angels, and the Little Prince and Princess (Drosselmeier's nephew and Marie in the first act)."
"Charlotte Zogas, as Marie Stahlbaum - the little girl whose Christmas Eve dream of a growing Christmas tree, toy soldiers battling mice, and travels to the Kingdom of the Sweets, where she's treated like a little princess - defined this role as fully as Simcoe does the Cavalier. Her palpable delight in dancing itself; her musicality; the way she uses her face to convey a wide range of emotions from Christmas Eve excitement to sadness for her broken nutcracker,"
Oregon Ballet Theatre opened its twenty-second run of George Balanchine's The Nutcracker at Keller Auditorium on Dec. 5, closing with a matinee on Christmas Eve. The production portrays the Stahlbaum family's Christmas Eve party, with mechanical toys coming to life, a wounded Nutcracker, battling mice, waltzing snowflakes and flowers, and the Land of the Sweets. Brian Simcoe, retiring after 22 years, danced the Cavalier with elegance and restraint, saving pyrotechnics for the coda. Partner Swane Messaoudi, trained in France and with San Francisco Ballet, showed technical skill and confidence but needs stronger interaction with child dancers. Charlotte Zogas embodied Marie with palpable delight, musicality, expressive facial work, and joyful stage presence.
Read at Oregon ArtsWatch * Arts & Culture News
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]