CBYE Media Releases

Ron Pozzer, the Hamilton Spectator There are many magic moments and unique touches in the Nutcracker ballet production now playing at Hamilton Place.

By Gary Smith
The Hamilton Spectator
(Dec 8, 2006)

There's a new Sugar Plum at the centre of Ballet Ouest de Montreal's Nutcracker. She's Vanessa Lawson.

She's that rare and remarkable thing, a dancer who can actually command a stage.

With razor-sharp technique, a personality that melts your heart and lyric musicality to lift you out of your seat, she's a bona fide ballerina. With her muscular partner Dmitri Dovgoselets, she elevates this regional ballet production to the glorious level of art.

A principal with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Lawson has been piloted into Hamilton for selected performances of this annual holiday classic. That's a bonus for any serious dance lover.

Oh yes, I know most audiences who attend this sugary concoction are more interested in the story than specific moments of dance. Fine. The thing is though, a ballerina like Lawson can provide the frosting on the cake, the peppermint coating on the candy cane, the chocolate crust on the truffle.

Margaret Mehuys, artistic director and choreographer of this Ballet Ouest production, offers a perfectly adequate showcase for Lawson's talents here, as well as a serviceable telling of the Nutcracker tale. What she doesn't do is give this Nutcracker an identifiable centre.

There aren't the Canadianisms that make the Royal Winnipeg production of the piece audience-friendly. And there certainly aren't the Russian-inspired influences that make James Kudelka's National Ballet version unique. What there is though -- and this is important -- is a clarity of storytelling that makes this version accessible to family audiences.

There are some nice touches along the way. Drosselmeyer rescues a sobbing baby mouse, the Nutcracker retrieves Clara's dance slipper after she pelts the Mouse King, and the inclusion of a rocking horse to take Clara to the Snow Queen's icy realm is an inspired North American image.

The dancing from the local Canadian Ballet Youth Ensemble, interpolated into this Quebec production, is polished and secure. Young Katherine Kasprzyk uses mime expertly as Clara. So does Adrian Hucal as her brother, Fritz.

George Sanford and Kristin Stawiarski as the Silberhaus mom and pop give the party scene in the first act a real lift. They use the conventions of classical mime with exquisite aplomb.

Sacha Belinsky hasn't enough magic as Drosselmeyer, playing the colourful old uncle who brings Clara the Nutcracker doll without sufficient mystery.

Paula Urrutia is too stolid, too rooted to the ground to suggest the radiant energy of the Snow Queen. In truth though, she wasn't helped by the slow and baleful tempo adopted by Michael Newnham and the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra.

Jerry Dzindzio brought the house down with his airborne Ukrainian Dance and Stephanie Mehuys revealed a lovely presence leading The Waltz of the Flowers. Jean-Claude Olivier's sets add a measure of Victorian splendour in the first act and Marie St. Amour's costumes are colourful and elegant.

Vanessa Lawson, though, is the jewel on this ballet stage; make no mistake about that. She dances again tonight at 7:30 and Saturday at 2 p.m. only. See her if you can.

Gary Smith has written on theatre and dance for The Hamilton Spectator for more than 25 years.

What: The Nutcracker Who: Ballet Ouest de Montreal and Canadian Ballet Youth Ensemble Where: Hamilton Place When: Dec. 8 and 9 at 7:30. Matinees Dec. 9 and 10 at 2 p.m. Tickets: 905-527-7666 Showtime