/ 24 November 1995

Stuff that dreams are made of

BALLET: Stanley Peskin

MORE than a century after The Nutcracker was first conceived for the Maryinsky Theatre at St Petersburg as part of the Christmas festivities in 1892, it continues to hold the stage. Andr Prokovsky’s production for Pact Ballet takes its impetus not only from Lev Ivanov, the ballet’s original choreographer, but also from Alexandre Dumas’ free adaptation of ETA Hoffman’s Nussnacker und Mausekonig, one of his less grim

In Pact Ballet’s version, the plot remains slight, although it is superbly dressed up by Johan Engels and glamourised by Mark Behren’s ingenious lighting. These features are in keeping with Tchaikovsky’s great score which, apart from his macabre depiction of the Drosselmeyer (a faintly sinister Master of Ceremonies), revels through its instrumentation in the toy-like and transformative qualities of the scenario, imbuing it with a fantasy and magic it does not intrinsically possess.

In roles they have danced many times, both Tanja Graafland (Louise, the Snow Queen and the Sugar Plum Fairy) and Johnny Bovang (Louise’s fianc and the Nutcracker Prince) excel. They bring charm and gallantry respectively to dancing that is classically pure and they make the most not only of their exacting pas de deux work but also of the equally demanding variations. The large supporting cast also contributes its fair share to the decorative features of the ballet.

The production is beautifully detailed in its presentation of puppet shows, Christmas trees (artificial and real), air balloons, rats small and large, magical transformations as interiors turn into snow landscapes and a Nutcracker is changed before our eyes into a Prince. This is, I suppose, the stuff that most dreams are made

The Nutcracker runs at the State Theatre, Pretoria, until December 2