Carlos Acosta; Tchaikovsky arranged by Pepe Gavilondo Peon
Acosta Danza
Lowry, Salford
January 27-28, 2025: 1 hr 55 mins
The clever – and rewarding – thing about Carlos Acosta’s take on The Nutcracker is that, although he’s transplanted the story’s setting and his composer colleague has restyled the music, you still get a generous dollop of traditional choreography, and it’s all done to the highest technical standard.
No one could really complain of being short-changed on the classical side, even though there’s a lot of traditional Cuban dance battened on to The Nutcracker in Havana. And, compared (for instance) with Matthew Bourne’s complete reinterpretation of the ballet, the scenario follows the standard sequence of events and cue points in the score, albeit on parallel lines at times.
One factor in this success is the video backdrop created by Nina Dunn (with Tyler Forward and Andrew Exeter), which takes us to Havana, with some high-speed drone footage of the city, to introduce each Act. For the second, “… yes, we can even make it snow in Havana,” as Acosta says.
We see a little pre-action during the overture’s reprise (as often also in other presentations), then the party gets underway in a humble Cuban family home, with children squabbling and presents exchanged – until the Drosselmeyer figure arrives: Tio Elias Drosselmeyer, to be precise, an uncle who has made it in the USA and, what’s more, can do magic.
He transforms the formerly simple shack (actually it’s quite a big one, to allow for the dancing) into something rather more grand, and hands out presents. Three of them are life-size dolls, representing a couple of deities from the Yoruba culture still strong in Cuba plus a tin soldier. And they have remarkable qualities, being able to move as in life (shades of Coppelia here, that other E T A Hoffman-based ballet classic) – even to the extent of pirouetting and turning in the air. Tio Elias also hands out wooden clogs, which fasten with rubber from old tyres - a Cuban tradition that adds fun to the ensemble dancing in both Acts. And there’s maypole dancing – another Cuban speciality, apparently.
The story runs on recognisable lines – a battle between the Nutcracker Prince’s soldiers and the Mouse King (or Rat King) and his army; the Prince whisking young Clara away through the Dance of the Snowflakes, and the divertissement which leads to the Grand Pas De Deux and its variations, where the Prince partners the Sugar Plum Fairy – while Clara shows everyone how to bring a dash of Cuban panache to it all.
One of the most impressive ingredients is the re-creation of the score, by Cuban composer Pepe Gavilondo Peon, on what sounds like a fairly small - but both gentle and very raucous - quite brilliant street band. It’s all recorded sound, but Tchaikovsky’s tunes and decorative detail are perfectly clear, while often overlaid with Cuban rhythms and percussion.
There’s a big company on stage, drawn from both the official Acosta Danza and its younger sibling, Acosta Danza Yunior, and some very accomplished performers are in action. I saw dainty and beautifully controlled energy in the performance of Adria Díaz as Clara (who also does the Russian Dance with the former Fritz, Brandy Martínez), and young partners Chay Deivis and Amisaday Naara won the loudest whoops of the evening for their Arabian; while Yunior members Thalia Cardín and Alexander Arias joined Elizabeth Tablada for the Mirlitons, and Leandro Fernández and Denzel Francis were very athletic Chinese dancers. In fact, all those brief pieces, though based on familiar models, were souped-up delightfully for this envisioning.
Laura Rodríguez was an elegant Sugar Plum Fairy and Alejandro Silva her noble and powerful Prince, and among the many well-acted performances in Act One, Zeleidy Crespo and Brian Ernesto stood out as Mother and Father – and Alexander Varona (though he has to spend some time just watching others do the dancing) was top value with his magic tricks as Tio Elias.
This was an end-of-tour visit and the only one in the North of England. More's the pity.
More info and tickets here
