The Atlanta Ballet's "The Nutcracker"

Image adapted from here.

I see "The Nutcracker" ballet every year,* and for 2019 I had the chance to see the Atlanta Ballet for the first time. While the story is clearly similar every time, this one had a twist that Marie, the little girl of the show, was dreaming of stories she had read in her beloved books.

The main difference I saw in this performance actually had nothing to do with dance or ballet at all. This show uses a lot more projected images, so much so that at points I felt like I was at the movie theater instead of the Kennedy Center. While it was interesting to see a bird's eye view of the town as if I were at an IMAX, that's not why I go to the ballet. Actually, the images were so bright and the movement so jarring that I felt a little motion-sick. And some of the images were just plain inaccurate: I liked the projected snowflakes, but we all know that snowflakes are hexagonal, or have six points, no more and no less; the show couldn't even follow that one scientific rule.

Speaking of rules, this show did not have a Sugarplum Fairy or Snow Queen. How is that possible?! Doesn't every ballerina dream of being the Sugarplum Fairy? That role was completely removed! I realize there are no "rules" for art, but I feel like the Number One rule of this show would be that a Sugarplum Fairy is there to guide us through the fantastical dreams. (Side bar: the Christmas tree that grows in size was also unimpressive.)

Creeper. Image found here.

Drosselmeier, the creepy uncle, instead plays a larger part in the story. Nikolas Gaifullin is so good looking, so pretty, that I honestly was questioning whether a woman was playing the part! He seems to be everywhere throughout the show that I began to grow sick of him. And he may have been creepier than the character usually is: he unties her dress earlier, and then he wraps up Marie in his large cape so you couldn't seen them together underneath this "tent." Who knows what he was doing to her under there!

Despite these errors that could have been easily avoided, I still enjoyed the show very much. Here were the highlights for me:

-Party scene: Before we even come into the house, we're out front watching a couple ice skate (on roller blades) and some people skiing and sledding. That part was fun and different, people rolling around on wheels. During the party, the adults play with a Christmas-themed maypole and get wildly tangled up in it from enjoying too much champagne.

-The mice: The Mouse King wore a crown of silverware, and his fellow mice crawled along the floor on skateboards.

-The international dances: This is always my favorite part of the show. The Arabian dance had three men and one woman, which was different. She played a cobra and wore a fishnet bodysuit with gold scales on it, and all three dancers mimicked snake-like movements. The Chinese dance was performed by one woman (Fuki Takahashi) who danced with fans, and two couples performed the Russian dance instead of the usual 3-4 men.

The French dance was very funny, with the rooster and hen couple and their baby chicks. Image found here.

-The flower waltz: Their version included three couples who are dragonflies (the women) and roses (the men), so that was new. I didn't love the use of green lighting (it made everyone on stage look like frogs), but I liked the creative touch.

The botanical set was really pretty Image found here.

-The stars: This was also unique to this performance (since there was no Sugarplum Fairy). The acrobats and light-up tutus were really cool!

Image found here.

I'm glad I went, but I've seen better performances of this beloved ballet. *Read my other Nutcracker posts here:
2013: Joffrey Ballet
2014: Ballet West
2015: Washington Ballet
2016: Cincinnati Ballet
2017: Pennsylvania Ballet
2018: Moscow Ballet