Review by Marilyn Lester . . .
In 1892, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky composed The Nutcracker Suite, a ballet of eight numbers, grouped in three movements. In 1960, the traditional suite, performed times beyond counting by ballet companies everywhere, got some competition—a jazz version. Suddenly, the music “got that swing,” arranged by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, and recorded and released on the Columbia Records label. In this iteration of the Ellingtonian masterwork, tap company Dorrance Dance, knocked the swingin’ bobby socks off an enthusiastic audience at The Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater, in a run from November 30 to December 2.
Known for virtuosic, playful performances, the 22-member company lived up to the acclamations it’s richly accumulated since its 2011 founding. As advertised, the program “boogies, slides, struts and dives” into its interpretation of the work. Playful? How about this full title from Dorrance: We Present to You: The Nutcracker Suite or, a Rhythmaturgical Evocation of the SuperLeviathonic Enchantments of Duke and Billy’s Supreme Adaptation of Tchaikovsky’s Masterpiece That Tells a Tale of a Misunderstood Girl Who Kills a King and Meets a Queen and Don’t Forget OOOO-Gong-Chi-Gong-Sh’-Gon-Make-It-Daddy, and That It Ain’t So Bad After All. All of that verbiage was indeed indicative of a thrilling express train ride of unrelenting energy, and of tap in all its forms—Broadway, rhythm, classical, eccentric and more, cleverly put together with plenty of improv in the moves. Choreography by Michelle Dorrance, along with Josette Wiggan, was enveloped in astute staging with superb attention to detail. (Ephrat “Bounce” Asherie, Hannah Heller, Matthew “Megawatt” West and Joseph Wiggan also contributed to the choreography.)
But first, there was a prequel to the Nutcracker presentation—and that’s because any production, traditional or jazz, lasts about 20 to 25 minutes. In An Ella’quent Holiday Swing, vocalist-arranger Aaron Marcellus enlisted Gregory Richardson to help create a suite of holiday favorites in the manner of Ella Fitzgerald and Frank DeVol. With backing vocals by Addi Loving and Dorrance, plus bassist Claudia Rahardjanoto, “Brighten The Corner Where You Are,” a 1913 hymn by Charles H. Gabriel and Ina Duley Ogdon, began with reverence before exploding into hand-clapping gospel treatment. Then it was Ella all the way with onstage musicians Michael Jellick (piano), Warren Craft (drums) and Rahardjanoto and a fast-paced in-and-out of tappers moving in a whirl of rhythm, from “Sleigh Ride” (Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish) to “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” (Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn) to the Devol, James Pierpont “Jingle Bells.” An apropos touch was 1937’s “Good Morning Blues” by Count Basie, Eddie Durham and James Rushing, featured in its true blues style by Fitzgerald on her 1960 Swinging Christmas album.
On to the main feature of the Nutcracker Suite, the basic elements were present to set the story. In narration and mainly dance, the company acted out (against the magical Christmas tree), a Christmas party and children playing, the arrival of the wizardly toymaker Drosselmeyer with two life-size dolls and his gift to little Clara of a nutcracker. In the middle of the night, as the household sleeps, Clara returns to the tree and the nutcracker, falling asleep with the toy in her arms. After an overture, thus begins the second movement of the ballet, the Danses caractéristiques: March, Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy, Russian Dance, Arab Dance, Chinese Dance and Dance of the Reed-Flutes. Ellington was known for his whimsical titles and in the jazz version of the piece, these became known as “Peanut Brittle Brigade,” “Sugar Rum Cherry,” “Volga Vouty,” “Arabesque Cookie,” “Chinoiserie” and “Toot Toot Tootie Toot.” The third part of the original, Waltz of the Flowers, in Ellington-speak, became”Danse of the Floreadores.”
Keeping up the dazzling momentum, in evocative costumes of fancy and creative imagination (designed by Andrew Jordan, with additional designers and construction crew), twelve dancers via quick changes and super-hero energy made it appear that the company had maybe twice or more times that number of personnel. Their precision, technique and sheer physicality (it seemed as if no body part was spared) exploded through creative movement and a very large dose of theatricality. No wooden soldiers need apply for this gig. It was dynamic and dramatic. Think of any combination of tap or dance move and it was probably included and executed. Dorrance herself was prominent in the casting, and it’s no wonder her company has grown and thrived in its relatively short existence. Her excellence as a performer and creative is possibly what Ellington (who eschewed labels) would declare, “beyond category.” (For full cast and credits, click here.)
With the emphasis on the show clearly dance, it would be easy to regard the music as “background.” Those more attuned to jazz and to the specificity of the Ellington-Strayhorn arrangements would be well-pleased. The unseen orchestra captured the essence of the piece, playing tight. Ellington famously wrote his compositions with specific band members in mind and the arrangements of the Nutcracker Suite were no different. Knowledgeable ears would have picked out exactly which parts were written for Johnny Hodges (alto sax) or Harry Carney (baritone sax) or Russell Procope (clarinet) and so on. It was a joy to hear the score come as alive as the dance.
Because the The Ellington-Strayhorn Nutcracker Suite is in the Dorrance Dance repertoire, this uplifting, jazzy production will no-doubt have a long life—and that in itself is uplifting. This delightful production is one to be seen every holiday time, and one to look forward to.
Photos: Christopher Duggan
