‘Nutcracker’ Makes Season Special Alberta Ballet’s Adaptation Different From Traditional Version

Last year, Alberta Ballet danced into town with a revised version of “The Nutcracker” that included angels, lambs, a swan and a rabbit, but no bonbons or reindeer.

Most of the new “Nutcracker” worked. The parts that didn’t have been polished, and the Calgary-based dance company will open a four-day run tonight at the Spokane Opera House. The Spokane Symphony, conducted by Stefan Kozinski, will also perform.

While “The Nutcracker” story line remains true to E.T.A. Hoffmann’s children’s story, the plot is not readily understandable by just watching the dancing.

The ballet opens with a Christmas Eve party at the home of Clara and Fritz. Among the guests is the magician Drosselmeyer, who brings Clara a nutcracker. During a spat between children, the nutcracker is broken; Drosselmeyer fixes it and injects some magic. After the party, Clara sneaks back to the parlor, falls asleep on the sofa and dreams of the nutcracker coming to life as a prince, battling an army of rats and whisking her off to fantasy lands such as the Land of Snow and the Kingdom of Magic, where dancers from around the globe entertain her.

For those familiar with the decade-old Alberta Ballet “Nutcracker,” the latest version will appear quite different. The sets have been changed, and there are angels cavorting about the stage in the Kingdom of Magic rather than the traditional snow fairies dancing in a forest. A rabbit marches alongside the soldiers, and Clara is driven to the Land of Snow in a swan rather than a reindeer-powered sleigh.

Those unfamiliar with “The Nutcracker” story can find copies of the book at libraries and book stores. Reading the story to children prior to the performance will allow all audience members to enjoy the ballet without overhearing explanations during the dancing.

Choreographer Marius Petipa originally created “The Nutcracker” to Tchaikovsky music in 1892. Since then, scores of choreographers have reset the piece, and nearly every ballet company dances some version of this holiday classic. A Dance Magazine survey revealed that last year alone, 20,926 dancers gave 2,408 performances of “The Nutcracker.” More than 200 ballet companies in North America perform this ballet.

As is traditional, local children, chosen during auditions in September, will dance the roles of the party children, mice, soldiers, rats, the rabbit, Chinese and Arabian dancers, Mother Ginger’s children, angels and lambs.

And, of course, Clara and Fritz are Spokane ballet students, this year danced by Megan Harris and Matthew Russoniello, respectively. Both have “Nutcracker” experience; Harris danced as Clara in the old Alberta Ballet version in which Clara is a small girl (in this “Nutcracker” Clara is a teenager), and Russoniello danced Fritz last year.

Another key dancer is Drosselmeyer’s nephew, performed this year by Byron Doepker, since Fritz is out of the picture early on in the story and the nephew accompanies Clara on her imaginary journey.

Unlike previous productions, only 48 local children will perform in “The Nutcracker.” Some will actually perform in a couple of roles. In past years, the more than 130 young dancers performed only one role each, and often there were two complete casts which alternated performances.

“During auditions the ballet mistress wanted the highest standard possible for the young dancers,” said Margaret Goodner, who is in charge of rehearsing the children, a role she’s played in this Christmastime tradition for nearly 15 years. “We had a problem getting two dress rehearsals, and this year one cast would have had to go without a dress rehearsal. She wanted the dancers to be prepared.”

The children have been rehearsing three days a week since late September.

Alberta Ballet has staged “The Nutcracker” in Spokane in December continuously since 1992. The Canadian troupe first produced it with the Spokane Symphony in 1981 and returned for the next three years. Other companies performed here in the late ‘80s - among them Ballet West from Salt Lake City, Oakland Ballet and Houston Ballet.

“Nutcracker” spectators are encouraged to arrive early and allow plenty of time to park since those arriving after the production has begun will not be seated until intermission to allow all others to enjoy the dancing uninterrupted.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

MEMO: These sidebars appeared with the story: BALLET “The Nutcracker” will be performed by Alberta Ballet and the Spokane Symphony at the Spokane Opera House tonight at 7:30, Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15, $20, $25, $29 ($13 for children younger than 13), available at the symphony box office (624-1200) and G&B Select-a-Seat outlets (325-SEAT).

INTERESTING TIDBITS ABOUT ‘NUTCRACKERS’ As might be expected when dozens of children are involved, “The Nutcracker” doesn’t always come off without a hitch. Dance Magazine surveyed companies about what’s gone wrong in “Nutcrackers” around the country. Here are just a few foibles (most involving the adult dancers, however) noted in the December issue:

The grandfather clock which strikes midnight midway through the first scene fell over on the magician Drosselmeyer in five productions.

Twenty-eight companies reported growing tree troubles, most of which involved the tree collapsing. Seattle-based Pacific Northwest Ballet turned to Boeing, which developed a turbo-tree. Maryland Regional Ballet’s tree would not stop growing, however, and it experienced takeoff. A “flying” Drosselmeyer in a Huntsville Ballet Company performance collided with the tree.

In the battle between the Nutcracker Prince and the Rat King during a Vineland Regional Dance Company performance, the prince broke his sword and quickly improvised; he strangled the Rat King with his bare hands.

The snowfall constantly presents problems - most common is for the snow to fall in clumps, thumping to the stage below, as was the case in one Spokane “Nutcracker.” In other productions, objects such as ketchup packets, earrings and a baseball cap fell along with the snow. Snowfall came early in a Les Grands Ballets Canadiens performance, falling on the battle scene between the Nutcracker and the Rats, prompting the audience to think it was rat poison.

An inventory of objects flying into the orchestra pit included several Nutcracker heads and body parts, one Rat King, one pitchfork, three snowballs, giant pieces of fake cheese, dolls, one mouse, one Rat King sword, one Russian dancer, two Sugar Plum Fairy wands and an electric mouse which landed in a tuba.

In 17 percent of the productions (including last year in Spokane), Mother Ginger toppled, most often collapsing, but sometimes doing a face-plant. And stage fright sometimes prompts nervous bonbons to throw up under Mother Ginger’s skirts.

Ten companies reported the Arabian dancer losing her pants or bikini top on stage; in one, the dancer continued on, unaware she had lost her pants. Susan English