A fine line separates a good ballet performance from a truly magical one, and you don’t need to be a connoisseur to know it.
At the National Ballet of Canada’s rendition of Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty, not even a seat six rows from the back of the theatre, nor the frequent and pretentious interjections from the man behind me, could diminish the epic, which kept me entertained throughout its three-hour length.
Prima ballerina Sonia Rodriguez’s precise, effortless performance as Princess Aurora was particularly captivating, and the Rose Adagio-a treacherous sequence where she balances on tiptoes for a full minute as four princes slowly pivot her one by one-was as breathtaking as any of the more intricate dances.
Still, something was missing: Rodriguez’s grace highlighted the other dancers’ missteps, and her natural charisma easily eclipsed that of her male counterpart, Aleksandar Antonijevic (Prince Florimund). His transition from melancholy to romance was so flat that it barely registered with the audience, and their Grand Pas de Deux-the majestic romantic finale-was technically beautiful, but lacked any real chemistry. Perhaps I wouldn’t have noticed these important, subtle nuances were it not for the introduction to ballet I received at an American Ballet Theatre performance of Swan Lake. I watched the ballet through a jet-lagged haze, but the dancers exuded such palpable emotion that moments from the show linger with me, months later. Through their physicality and the musical atmosphere, I could really feel the tragedy and passion of the story without resorting to the programme for clarification.
With all this in mind, the upcoming production of The Nutcracker looks to be the perfect diversion between the end of term and the holidays. The lavish set design and costumes, renowned musical score, and exquisite dancing that tell the classic story will surely be enjoyable to fans and newcomers alike. Choreographed by James Kudelka and now in its eleventh consecutive season, this breathtaking holiday classic has had over 231 performances in Toronto and has been seen by over 571,426 audience members.
You don’t have to know the intricate technicalities of ballet to appreciate a good performance. The untrained eye is as capable as any of detecting that elusive je ne sais quoi. When scenes or moments stay with you long after the curtain falls, you can understand why principal dancer Guillaume Côté says “the wordless communication between the dancer and audience can be a spiritual experience.” And those three hours are still a treat by themselves.
The Nutcracker runs Dec. 9-30
at the Four Seasons Centre for
the Performing Arts. More information can be found at www.national.ballet.ca.
