Review: Loyce Houlton’s ‘Nutcracker’ retains its energy

Marie (Zoe Derauf) and her magical toy in "Loyce Houlton's Nutcracker Fantasy." (Courtesy photo: Jim Smith)

So pervasive are productions of "The Nutcracker" on Twin Cities stages this time of year that it's easy to forget that it was still something of a novelty when Minnesota Dance Theatre founder Loyce Houlton created her own version in 1964. While many a dance company makes the ballet an annual tradition, "Loyce Houlton's Nutcracker Fantasy" has them all beat for longevity.

And this year's version of the "Nutcracker Fantasy" still summons up a lot of magic. On opening night Friday at Minneapolis' State Theatre, the Minnesota Dance Theatre company and a few dozen guest artists and MDT trainees presented a production full of sparkle and grace. The Christmas party of the first act swirled with energy and excitement, the colorfully rendered setting bursting with color and movement.

However, the performance lost some momentum in the second act, when the choreography was often far too safe and unspectacular to match the passion that poured forth from Pyotr Tchaikovsky's score as played by a 44-piece orchestra under Philip Brunelle's direction. But things always took an elegant turn whenever Kevin Iverson appeared onstage as Godfather Drosselmayer. He's the magnetic maker of magical toys who leads young Marie (a consistently impressive Zoe Derauf) on her dreamy odyssey to a dessert-laden landscape. There, she's joined by her now human-size nutcracker, beautifully danced by Zachary Manske.

Iverson's every flowing movement was impressively synchronized with Tchaikovsky's music. Opening the ballet amid a slanted, enchanted village (a delightful design by James Guenther), Drosselmayer is soon sending human-size dolls off to a party with a sharp crack drill squad of rifle-toting soldiers, human marionettes manipulated by invisible strings, and dozens of dancers taking a shift in the spotlight.

The international assembly of dancers that entertains Marie and her prince proves a mixed bag. While Katie Deuitch and Chris Hannon offer a lovely hybrid of ballet and flamenco as the Spanish couple, neither the Arabian nor Chinese dances ask much of the performers. In some versions, these are the most thrilling dances in the ballet, but they were too simple to be satisfying. The lone excitement comes from the lithe, leaping Russians, Serena Lu giving the proceedings a needed shot of adrenaline with her twirling, tumbling performance.

The grand pas de deux of Act 2 can similarly provide an explosion of emotion with its surging strains and lovely lifts, but Houlton's choreography proved disappointingly conservative, although impeccably executed by Katie Johnson and Sam Feipel, their solos far more intriguing than their duets. But one can find plenty of outstanding ensemble work in the "Dance of the Commedia Dell'Arte" and "Waltz of the Flowers."

This production is at its best when creating a kind of three-ring circus of a ballet, something interesting always happening somewhere onstage. Such scenes feel like the ballet equivalent of a sugar rush, something of which we could use more as it winds to a close.

Rob Hubbard can be reached at rhubbard@pioneerpress.com.

Who: Minnesota Dance Theatre

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Review: Loyce Houlton's 'Nutcracker' retains its energy