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(More customer reviews)Vassily Vainonen's Nutcracker choreography was probably as influential in Europe as Balanchines Nutcracker was in the United States. Vainonen omitted the Sugar Plum Fairy altogether and instead made Clara's story a Romantic Awakening. Most European versions of the Nutcracker follow Vainonen's lead, although they may retain the Sugar Plum Faiy. From the Royal Ballet version (available on several videos, the latest with a truly enchanting Alina Cojocaru as Clara) to Grigorivich's dreary Bolshoi production and Nureyev's more surreal one, the Vainonen influence can be found. On the other side of the pond, Baryshnikov's film with Gelsey Kirkland is also based on the Vainonen, although with considerably darker overtones.
The Kirov video is the only tape I know that is actually Vainonen's choreography. Unlike the Bolshoi video with Maximova and Vasiliev, the Kirov's video is blessed with excellent production values. The costumes, sets, and performance are all pretty, sumptuous, and well-organized. I particularly love the Snowflakes scene in the Kirov, with its background of evergreen trees. The Kirov corps is as usual elegant and their use of their upper bodies is a real plus for the ethnic dances in Act 2.
I also like the cast for the Kirov video. A very young, waiflike Larissa Lezhnina is very believable as a teenaged girl. Of the "adult" Clara/Mashas only Gelsey Kirkland and Alina Cojocaru can match Lezhnina's youthful, innocent persona. Merle Park (on the Nureyev video), Ekaterina Maximova (Bolshoi), and Lesley Collier (Royal Ballet) are all way too mature to be believable as a teenager. Viktor Baranov is a very handsome, dashing Prince, who both looks like and dances like a young Mikhail Baryshnikov.
How is the Vainonen choreography? Generally, I like it a lot. The only thing I don't like is the abandonment of the original Sugar Plum Fairy kingdom concept -- in Vainonen's version, Masha and the Prince fall in love and marry in the Kingdom of Sweets. I think there's a way to preserve the Kingdom of the Sweets concept while also preserving a sense of romance between Masha and the Prince. But I think the divertissements are well-choreographed, and the Kirov dances them with the usual elegance and aplomb. I particularly like the Arabian dance in this video. While not as family-friendly as George Balanchine's (no Mother Ginger here!) once you get past the convnetion of adults playing children, I think the choreography is very beautiful, and emphasizes the more romantic aspects of Tchaikovsky's score. I also really liked the choreography for the Waltz of the Flowers -- it seems to mirror actual ballroom waltzing, with couples waltzing away. The effect is sweetly romantic.
That being said, there were a couple things which annoyed me about the video. One is the fact that in the Party scene there's little sense of a real family party. Everything seems a bit too grand, as if this were the Emperor's ball rather than a Christmas gathering. Balanchine's Nutcracker still is the gold standard in setting the tone of a real party. Second of all, there was a decision to have all the "children" danced by adults, and even more strangely, to have all the boys danced by female corps de ballet in long, Beatles-like wigs and pants. The Vaganova Academy has plenty of children, why not use them in the party scene? (And they have real boys too.) Also, the grand pas de deux is really a grand pas de six, with four cavaliers assisting Masha and the Prince. Lezhnina looks pretty being lifted from one cavalier to another, but the piece loses some of its romantic intimacy when there are so many people dancing with Masha in addition to the Prince. I also wonder why Soviet choreographers had to delete so much original Ivanov choreography, such as the Prince's mime, the dance of the hoops and Mother Ginger, things that were lovingly preserved in the Balanchine production.
A Nutcracker as a child's dream fantasy filled with sweets and fun (Balanchine) or a romantic dream of a teenaged girl (Vainonen)? It all depends on what you prefer, I guess. I like both. Unlike the Baryshnikov video there's no darkness here (the Baryshnikov video suggested romantic feelings between Drosselmeyer and Clara). The Kirov has since abandoned the Vainonen version for a darker Nutcracker so I count myself lucky that this is on videotape.
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