Boston Ballet puts art & soul into ‘Nutcracker’

Tradition can turn to love for holiday art. We fall for “It’s A Wonderful Life” or Handel’s “Messiah” or Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” because friends or family fell first. But if we step back from nostalgia, would we find our favorites are lousy? Divorced from Christmas, do these things stand up as great art?

If we are talking about “The Nutcracker,” the answer is: Yes, the ballet is brilliant.

“It has to be art,” Boston Ballet Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen said ahead of his company’s monthlong run at the Opera House. “Some of the music is traditional. Some of the time, the measures are very unusual. There is neoclassicism and academic classicism in it. It’s a dancer development tool so I have made my choreography very difficult. And, possibly most importantly, it is the gateway to the art form of ballet.”

In short, Nissinen sees “The Nutcracker” as high art that can captivate 8-year-olds getting their first look at the Mouse King and adults who have seen everything from “Swan Lake” to William Forsythe’s “Pas/Parts 2018.” He also wants to make sure holiday audiences know it is a ballet.

“I have seen so many ‘Nutcrackers’ that I would call ‘Christmas spectaculars,’ ” he said. “When I came to the Boston Ballet (in 2001), there was a survey that asked if people had ever seen a ballet, and people said no. But those same people in that survey said they had seen ‘The Nutcracker.’ ”

Nissinen says companies that “walk through” or “dial in” the ballet do audiences and themselves a huge disservice. He believes every performance should honor the art form, Tchaikovsky’s iconic score and the dancers and their training.

“I take it and we take it very seriously,” Nissinen said. “I know I have a very tired company after the run, but I know I have a better company.”

Nissinen concedes the first step to winning over new fans is getting them in the seats. Part of that means making shows accessible. The Boston Ballet aims to have every performance include $37 tickets (the company also takes part in the EBT Card to Culture program, which allows significant discounts to EBT card holders at dozens of organizations from the ballet to opera to museums). For those looking for cheaper prices or variations on “The Nutcracker” theme, check out the José Mateo Ballet Theatre’s version (ballettheatre.org) or “The Urban Nutcracker” (urbannutcracker.com).

All these performances are presented by nonprofits, and December dollars play a primary role in keeping the dance companies afloat during the rest of the year. This means prices need to be balanced against an impulse to raise as much money as they can when they can.

“This is the only production in our repertoire that generates a positive revenue,” Nissinen said. “Everything else loses (money), and a lot… But it is incredibly important that art is affordable and accessible today and going forward.”

And Nissinen is only looking forward.

Over the next few years, he plans to expand the Boston Ballet’s international footprint (the company recently logged time in London and Paris), continue to build a younger audience (shockingly, its attendance has skewed younger and younger over the last few years) and balance its repertoire between classics (“Swan Lake” in 2020) and progressive new works.

“I don’t see the obvious leader (in the field),” he said. “So let’s go, let’s lead … Let’s make this art form the charging station for today’s human beings. If they need to escape, they can escape. If they want to do soul searching, that’s there. The single most important thing is the audience and their inner dialogue.”

“The Nutcracker,” through Dec. 29, Boston Opera House. Tickets: $37-$204; bostonballet.org.

—

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2R52UWA