Saturday November 28 2009.
I was naturally wary of this as I dislike the incompetent prancing of children who do not know what they are doing, especially when we are expected to pay respectable prices for the privilege of enduring it. But apart from an uncomfortable first scene in which there was almost no dancing at all owing to the need to establish a uniform standard of mediocrity so the children could keep up, this production really took off.
Not only did the prima ballerina, Elizabeth Dragoni, show that she really could dance with skill, precision and conviction but she was convincingly swept off her feet by the Nutcracker Prince, Glenn Davis, in a pas de deux which was as erotic as it was skilled and beautiful. Similarly, the enormous orchestra conducted by Karla Kelley, kept itself back until the kiddies had gone away for their nap, at which moment they unleashed the symphonic power of a true ballet orchestra and swept the performers off their feet. The “Dance of the Flowers” was one of the most powerful I have ever seen or heard.
I could not help thinking that the Maine State Ballet could perform with real integrity if it did not have to depend so much on tuition fees and the opportunities they create for juvenile "vanity dancing" no matter how crowd pleasing this might be.
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