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Big-band music propels lighthearted version of balley
By Elaine Guregian
Beacon Journal arts and culture critic
Published on Thursday, Dec 13, 2007
A Nutcracker with a beat that would surprise Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky is getting ready for its debut at the Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet.
It's the latest in a long list of original ballets created for the company by New York choreographer Francis Patrelle, who previously choreographed Madeline at the Circus, The Empty Pot and other ballets for the company. Patrelle has returned with a work that could be one of his best: Nutcracker Swings! A Memory. The choreographer dedicated the ballet to all the men and women currently serving in the U.S. military service.
The dancers, ranging from elementary through high school, will perform the work at noon and 3 p.m. Saturday at Cuyahoga Falls High School.
Patrelle has a fondness for the big-band music of the World War II swing era. When the Youth Ballet's artistic director, Mia Klinger, gave him the go-ahead, he drew on jazzy settings of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker music to transform the story. Seen in rehearsal this week, it was an exuberant, eye-poppingly colorful show that zipped along, powered by the well-trained young dancers.
''I've been wanting to do this for years, even before I knew there were other Nutcrackers that did jazzy (versions),'' Klinger said. ''There are parallels with the real Nutcracker that make it fun.''
Imagine the Waltz of the Flowers rethought as a senior prom, and you're on your way. In this incarnation of the story, a woman fondly remembers her high school graduating class of 1945. Her memories come to life in scenes that parallel action in the famous ballet.
Patrelle's ballet draws on local history, choosing the late Saywell's Drugs in Hudson to represent the typical soda shop for the opening party scene. The skating pond at Western Reserve Academy in Hudson inspired the setting for fun in the snow.
Klinger said she learned a little
history along with the students. She waggled her index finger like one of the dancers going by in the rehearsal. What might just look like a dance move was actually WWII code for ''U.S.A. is No. 1,'' she said.
With costume designer Janet Bolick, Klinger traveled to New York City to choose fabrics like a cherry pattern, evoking the '40s without simply relying on nostalgia. The variety and quality of the costumes are far beyond what one might expect for a youth ballet.
CVYB alumnae Aubrey Klinger dances the role of the reminiscing Woman. Alison Koroly dances Ruby in Red, while Sara Mary Grace McGuire is Pretty in Pink, her rival for the affections of Dustin True in the role of An American Boy. The Boy wears nerdy big black glasses, but to these girls, he's everything.
The first act in the traditional Nutcracker, choreographed originally by Lev Ivanov in 1892, is a Christmas party. Patrelle's party happens in a soda shop, with dancers costumed in pastel hues reminiscent of ice cream and sherbet. When the youngest dancers enter as mice, soldiers come to the rescue, but the unthreatening mice, cute in their gray costumes and red suspenders, end up hugging their legs.
Carly Pouttu (Miss Popularity) and Brian Gillick (Varsity Football Captain) lead off an ensemble ice-skating scene. As in the traditional Nut, the snowy scene finishes the first act. It leads to the divertissements, a series of individual and ensemble specialty dances in Act II. The pieces hint back to dances like Chinese and Arabian from the original Nut, but they're transformed with jazzy moves.
Throughout the ballet, swing music propels the action, using recordings like the Glenn Miller Orchestra playing In the Nutcracker Mood or David Berger and the Sultans of Swing playing The Harlem Nutcracker. The finale, the Waltz of the Flowers reinterpreted by the Glenn Miller Orchestra, is a high school prom from older, more clean-cut days.
The mood of Patrelle's Nutcracker Swings is always lighthearted, despite this being a reminiscence. When a soldier comes by with a folded flag, the Woman waves him away, not wanting to let harsher truths later in life ruin the happy memories from early years.
A theme of innocence carries through the ballet. Even the rivalry for the Boy is sweet — no mean girls or Internet gossiping here. Crossing and uncrossing her legs as she sits on the side, or dancing with a sassy confidence, Alison Koroly lets everyone know that that Ruby in Red is trouble.
Her more girlish rival, Pretty in Pink's McGuire, looks as if steam were about to come out of her ears when she sees Ruby move in on An American Boy. Maintaining the Youth Ballet's usual G rating, the dancers make an engaging story out of Patrelle's appealing choreography.
''I love this part!'' Alison said after the one-hour dress rehearsal. ''I asked Francis Patrelle, 'Am I supposed to be mean?' He said, 'Aren't you tired of being the goody-two-shoes all the time?!' ''
The new ballet, danced for the most part on pointe, is a fun change from classical ballet, Alison said. It is the first jazz piece the Walsh Jesuit High School senior has performed, but she and the other dancers looked at home in Patrelle's choreography. This Nut is done with a panache that even old school Ivanov might appreciate.
Elaine Guregian can be reached at 330-996-3574 or eguregian@thebeaconjournal.com.
A Nutcracker with a beat that would surprise Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky is getting ready for its debut at the Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet.
Get the full article here.
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