The Ballet of the Teatro Colón ends his season with the replacement of nutcrackerYesa work – it is inevitable to say it every time – imbued with a Christmas spirit: the ballet begins with a Christmas party and then the dreams of the young Clara, who receives a nutcracker as a gift from her godfather, will bring the story to an end.

This version created by Rudolf Nuriev in 1991 (and whose revival at the Colón was for many years overseen by Aleth Francillon) is based, like so many others, on the ballet originally premiered in St. Petersburg in 1892: Marius Petipa had written the libretto, his assistant Lev Ivanov composed the choreography and PI Tchaikovsky the soundtrack.

How is it possible that Petipa, the all-powerful director of the Ballets Imperiales and author of practically their entire repertoire, left such a responsibility in the hands of his shy assistant Ivanov? Simply because he got sick and had to stay home during the entire editing process.

Lev Ivanov, an unhappy genius

Let’s make a brief portrait of Lev Ivanov: his whole life was devoted to ballet, as a performer, teacher and choreographer. He was much appreciated as a partner by the Russian prima ballerinas and also had extraordinary gifts for music: he could reproduce by heart on the piano, immediately after hearing it, any work however complicated it was.

At the same time he was very modest, friendly to everyone and not very ambitious in terms of personal achievement. He did not know the ways to assert himself and the money he earned was always below his merits; painfully, his first wife left him due to his financial failure.

But his poetic inspiration and his choreographic qualities were very high; of course they prove it Nutcrackerthe second act of Swan Lake (this ballet was presented for the first time in 1895) which he also composed at the request of Petipa and surely other works of his that disappeared over time would have done so too.

The opportunity to conceive an entire choreography on the score of a great musician was a godsend for Ivanov. Of course, he had to adapt to the precise requests that his boss sent him punctually every day. Petipa composed his ballets using small dolls that he moved on a board, but in this case his assistant had more freedom to create.

Several pivotal scenes from Nutcracker reveal the genius of Ivanov: the Chinese, Russian, Spanish and Arab dances of the second act, the waltz of flowers and the spectacular, but no less poetic, painting of Snowflakes.

Tchaikovsky in chains

Tchaikovsky also did not go through the editing process comfortably: he was not very sure of himself and often fell into depression. With these traits he was easy prey for Petipa.

The choreographer, from his home, sent him not only a detailed description of each scene, but also the exact speed of the music, its character, and the number and size of beats he needed for each section. Things like this: “You will have to compose sixteen bars of 3/4 in a cheerful character and then eight bars of 6/8…”.

In his correspondence with his friend Nadezda Von Meck, the musician bitterly complained about the limitations that Petipa imposed on him. And when the ballet finally opened in 1892, in a mixed program that included his short opera iolantaTchaikovsky commented, again by letter, to a friend: “Apparently they liked the opera, but not the ballet; despite the lavish staging, it was rather boring. is infinitely worse than Sleeping Beauty (note: Petipa’s famous ballet, for which he also wrote the music)”.

But the composer was wrong: not only because the ballet was then a great and lasting success, but also because the score is still much admired today. Nutcracker was Stravinsky’s favorite work of all Tchaikovsky’s compositions and he was particularly fascinated by the chinese dance.

Balanchine, in the “Nutcracker”

The great Russian-American choreographer George Balanchine said of this composition: “The chinese dance from Nutcracker there is nothing Chinese about it. Tchaikovsky was not at all interested in a battle between bad Chinese and good Chinese. It was just an opportunity to write a wonderful piece.”

“Petipa always wanted his ballets to include ‘divertimentos’ and suggested that Tchaikovsky create exotically inspired dance numbers. From a Caucasian lullaby, for example, the composer made an Arab dance. It’s a Georgian melody, not an Arab one But who cares? The result is a small masterpiece”.

Nureyev’s version

Nureyev’s version provided Ivanov-Petipa’s work with greater psychological consistency in the character of Clara and some references to the meaning of dreams thanks to the influence of psychoanalysis. Otherwise it is a beautiful creation which, without abandoning the classical language, refreshes it with a new perspective.

There are ten shows scheduled with various leading couples, including stable body dancers and a guest couple: María Yakovleva and Davide Dato, leading figures of the Vienna Opera Ballet.

Premiere: Friday 16 December, functions until Thursday 29, More information on www.teatrocolon.org.ar.

POS