The Ballet of the Teatro Colón, directed by Mario Galizzi, closed its season with the revival of the Nutcracker, albeit not as planned: the principal guest dancers of the Vienna Opera, Maria Yakovleva and Davide Datobusy for the performances on Sunday 18 and Wednesday 21, she was only able to complete Wednesday’s performance, given that Sunday’s was suspended due to the World Cup final.

And so Carla Vincelli and Juan Pablo Ledo, by the Stable Ballet, which opened the cycle on Friday 16, will have one more presentation than the four initially planned. Other stable corps couples will complete the ten functions until Friday, December 30th.

As with many ballets of the second half of the 19th century, created by Marius Petipaalso Nutcracker It has been extensively revised during the 20th century by numerous choreographers, who have given it other forms and other meanings.

To cite just two examples, Maurice Bejart in 1998 he created his Nutcracker an evocation of one’s childhoodfamily Christmas parties and the untimely death of his mother.

American choreographer Mark Morris draws inspiration from Hoffman’s sinister story of the same name, while Petipa took Alexandre Dumas’s more watered-down version as his source.

The Nutcracker by Morris is dark and grotesque and the action is transferred to the 60s of the twentieth century with an absolutely pop aesthetic.

Nureyev’s version is danced at the Colón

Rudolf Nureyev, whose version created in 1967 is part of the repertoire of the Ballet del Colón (he himself performed it with this company in 1971), conceived his own Nutcracker in a more traditional way, but at the same time with a very inspired innovative approach.

It is worth mentioning that the original 1892 choreography was created by Lev Ivanov, assistant to Marius Petipa, who was ill and lonely during the creation of the work.

So this almighty director of the Imperial Russian Ballets had to confine himself to writing the script and giving countless written instructions from his home; not only good old Ivanov, but also Tchaikovsky, who composed a wonderful score despite all the limitations imposed on him by Petipa.

Nureyev changed some aspects of the characters: Clara, a girl who celebrates Christmas with her family and who receives a nutcracker as a gift from her godfather, the mysterious Mr. Drosselmeier, will be the same creature traveling through a world of dreams and nightmares . She stars in pass to two end, and not the sugar candy fairy that doesn’t exist in this version.

And Mr. Drosselmeier himself is the prince of Clara’s dreams and not an enchanted being, created by her imagination as in the original version.

Otherwise, Nureyev introduces humorous details into the worklike an elderly relative’s dance at a Christmas party, at once sick, clueless and brilliant dancer.

Or very imaginative scenes such as the menacing “big heads” who terrorize Clara in her nightmare and who when they take off their masks are her own parents and friends. However, it is a fascinating work, with very beautiful choreographic variations although technically very difficult.

The work of the guest dancers

The Ballet del Colón, as a whole, did this Wednesday a worthy function although it definitely won’t be the best of this cycle; The reasons could be the previous three days of inactivity (Sunday 18th, Monday, which is their day off, and Tuesday of the national holiday).

As for the protagonists, Maria Jakovleva how Clara played her role correctly, but not beyond what one might expect from a first guest figure.

However david given -in the triple role of Drosselmeier, Magician and Prince- is an artist out of the ordinary. It has been a long time since such an extraordinary dancer has been seen on the stage of the Teatro Colón. His technique is masterful, but this is just a detail. More dazzling, if possible, are his expressiveness and his absolute stage presence.

And even more!: Davide Dato is that kind of performer who dances to the last millimeter of the musical phrase; i.e. they “breathe” with the music perfectly.

File

Nutcracker

Qualification: Very good

Agency: Ballet of the Teatro Colón Director: Mario Gallizzi Choreography: Leo Ivanov Music: PI Tchaikovsky Theater: Colón, Libertad 621. Until December 30 at different times.

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