and the
By Burl Burlingame
beauties
Star-Bulletin'Twas the many nights before Christmas, and visions of pas de deux are dancing in our heads. They won't stop! The holidays have became an enormous Hoover of dancing talent, scooping up every available trained child for any number of productions. Among the events this season are at least three editions of "The Nutcracker" and a revamped version of Honolulu Dance Theater's "A Christmas Carol," now called "Scrooge!"
"Actually, 'Scrooge!' is what I wanted to call it all along," said HDT's Matthew Wright, who created the latter work in the early '90s. "We changed it because of a conflict with another production of the same name, and also based on Dickens."
Wright, who's fond of adapting well-known stories into dance -- "Everyone knows the plots!" -- also adapted "Frankenstein" a few months ago and is planning either "Hamlet" or "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" for next summer. But "Scrooge!" is close to his heart -- for one thing, he essays the title role. The work has been presented annually since 1993.
"Every year, it gets upgraded and fine-tuned, making it more accessible," said Wright. "Plus, the little changes you make to accommodate visiting artists."
This year's extravaganza features a pas de deux of Misae Shiga and Naoya Kojima from Tokyo's Asami Maki Ballet, a well-regarded professional troupe of more than 100 dancers. "Scrooge!" will feature more than 60 dancers, including Sam Reece as Marley's Ghost, Ian Cambell and Celia Chun as the nephews-in-law, Georgia Tucker as the Ghost of Christmas Past and Emiko Ono as Tiny Tim.
The music is a "collage" of English light-classical composers such as Malcolm Arnold and Arthur Bliss, except for one brief field trip for Gonud. "I put together the music, actually, while waiting around in London for my visa to return to Honolulu," said Wright. "I intensely listened to nothing but CDs for weeks."
The pieces chosen, said Wright, are "very easy to digest. They become part of the process of arranging the work. Sometimes the music dictates the action, sometimes the action changes the choice of music."
Besides the name change, the work also leaves the wide open spaces of the Leeward Community College Theater for the first time for the more intimate surroundings of Hawaii Theatre Center.
Will the big cast fit the stage?
"Just! It's a challenge," laughed Wright. "But it's a beautiful theater, and the ambience is just right for a classic holiday story like this."
The Nutcracker Ballet has become an American Christmas tradition since its first performance by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in New York in 1940.The ballet is based on Alexandre Dumas' adaptation of "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" by E.T.A. Hoffman. In 1890, composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky and choreographer Marius Petipa collaborated on the ballet, which premiered Dec. 17, 1892, at Maryinsky Theater (later renamed the Kirov). It faded from the repertory for a few years, but was revived by the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow in 1919.
In the ballet, the mysterious Dr. Drosselmeyer creates a Christmas dream for his godchild Clara. She is attacked by giant mice, then rescued by a nutcracker solder, whom she saves from the Mouse King's sword.
This year's highlights:
Ballet Hawaii: Local dancers WillieDean Ige, Peter Rockford Espiritu, Kanako Imayoshi and Bridget Hanley will be joined by dancers from the American Ballet Theater and Paul Taylor Company. ABT principals Ashley Tuttle and Gil Boggs dance the roles of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Soldier Doll and ABT soloist Sandra Brown dances the parts of the Snow Queen and Dew Drop.
Scrooge!
Nutcracker ballets
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