The Nutcracker

Impressive production; all-around fine performance; good DVD
All things considered, I have to say that this is quite an enjoyable theatrical presentation of Balanchine's "The Nutcracker." Looking at "the show" itself, its most rave-worthy characteristic is how well the team of Peter Martins (ballet master), Emile Ardolino (director) and Ralf Bode (cinematographer) collaborated to actually "choreograph the camera" to the movements of the performers. Thanks to a talented movie crew and an incredible amount of consideration given to viewing angles (read the description in the disc's "special features"), the TV always seemed to be showing exactly what I wanted to look at on the stage. Add in some nice work by Industrial Light & Magic, decent narration, and a top-notch production team, and the result is a superb presentation.

From a performance standpoint, I'd give this an A-minus mainly because the versions of "The Nutcracker" I've seen most often cast the Nutcracker Prince in a much more...

Five Stars Despite Macauley
The one time that I've seen the George Balanchine production of 'The Nutcracker' in New York, I was standing at the back of the top balcony. I obviously couldn't see much even with the pair of 7x50 binoculars I brought, so I'm glad that this DVD has become available. The recording wasn't made before an audience but was nonetheless filmed on stage. It thus preserves the appearance and staginess of the original production, while the camerawork has more freedom and energy than it would have otherwise.

The dancers of the NYC Ballet and the students from its associated school, the School of American Ballet, have performed the Balanchine Nutcracker every Christmas season since 1969 (the film was made in 1993). I prefer this production in great part because children and not adults perform the children's roles unlike most of the other tapes and DVDs available. Here the kids are delighfully energetic and enthusiastic; the only sour note is Macauley Culkin as the...

A Spectacular, Traditional "Nutcracker"
In 1954, Russian-born choreographer George Balanchine staged a new version of "The Nutcracker" for his New York City Ballet. What sets Balanchine's version apart from the subsequent incarnations that would emerge in Soviet Russia and Europe is that it utilizes the original 1892 libretto. In fact, Balanchine's may be as close as one can ever get to seeing the original Maryinsky production by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. Most notably, he preserved Petipa's emphasis on narrative over dance (used to great success in 1890's "The Sleeping Beauty"), especially in the Act I party and battle scenes and the Nutcracker Prince's pantomime in Act II. We also get conventions that were eventually weeded out in other productions such as a distinctly German setting for Act I, and Act II divertissement representing actual confections as opposed to just geographic regions. This is a very pure version of the ballet: no strange Freudian undertones as with Maurice Bejart's or Rudolf Nureyev's versions, no...

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