By Henrietta Macguire

 

 

 

The Montgomery Ballet's re­cent opening performance of "The Nutcracker" continued the compa­ny's celebration of its 50th anniver­sary.

Though this Montgomery favor­ite is an annual production, almost everything about this year's per­formance was new: the choreogra­phy, the costumes, the scenery, the interpretation of the story. Tchaikovsky's music was not new, but it carried the dancers along at a swifter clip than in earlier presen­tations.

Guided by Elie Lazar, the bal­let's new choreographer from Isra­el, the company was disciplined to an almost military precision. Even the tiniest dancers seemingly at their ease in their parts.

For the audience, there's a com­fort level in this ballet because the music is so familiar, it makes us feel right at home. The Grand Pas de Deux of the Sugar Plum Fairy, the Waltz of the Flowers, The Snow King and Queen and the Trepak from Russia all work their magic as the vibrant life on the stage spins and whirls along.

The dancers inhabited their roles to a satisfying degree. Haynes Owens, who began dancing as a child student in the company, be­came Herr Drosselmeyer for the evening, trying to keep everybody in line. Borrowed from the Saraso­ta Ballet were Alison Dubsky and Carlos Martin, who were superb in the Sugar Plum Fairy Pas de Deux. Those lifts seemed so effortless one wouldn't have been surprised if Alison had kept right on floating upward into the shining lights. In the Trepak from Russia, Hyek Chen exhibited a flashing tech­nique that had the audience mes­merized.

Within "The Nutcracker" are several separate dances known in ballet parlance as divertisements, each with distinctive costumes. They added a special glitter to this production because they were so original and so exciting. Among the most enchanting were those of the angels who opened Act II. Four­teen little charmers wearing gowns with hooped skirts down to the floor and shimmering head­dresses that looked like haloes glid­ed about the stage, seeming to float above the surface. As though at­tached by invisible ropes they moved in unison, every gesture perfectly synchronized, every move precise and calibrated. Ali­son's Sugar Plum Fairy costume was the classic pink tutu, but this one had a special snap that made every twirl and spin appear etched in silver.

The divertisement, Hot Choco­late from Spain, gave us a few fla­menco moments danced by Ginny Smith and Ian Morris. With con­trolled abandon, they snapped about the stage, she in red and black lace, he with a Spanish beret at the right angle and white and black vest above gray boots. Final­ly, there was Coffee from Arabia, danced by Kyana Neller and Collin Hislop. To music that was sensu­ous and haunting, Neller undulat­ed in a space that became a magic harem, her costume purple and gold, her full harem pants clipped in at the ankles, her jewel-en­crusted headdress glittering in the twirling lights.

The Montgomery Ballet with its school, its dancers and its perform­ances truly functions on a united effort. At the opening of "The Nut­cracker" is a large Christmas tree that grows taller and taller as the story unfolds. Because the tree was so expensive, the children of the company held a fundraiser selling Tucker Pecans to help defray the costs of the tree's construction.

In addition to new costumes, much of the scenery is also new, in­cluding the welcoming doorway, the fireplace and the mantel in the Party Scene, which opens the bal­let. What is not new is Priscilla Crommelin-Ball's dedication to The Montgomery Ballet. She did the heavy lifting in the earlier, darker days when the company came close to the edge, when there was mainly her tenacity that kept those pink tutus staying on the beat. This celebration should hon­or her, too.