By Toma Lynn Smith
Delightful and beautiful are two words that describe “Clara’s Dream.”
The University of Louisville Dance Theatre and the University Symphony Orchestra did a spectacular job performing this ballet at U of L School of Music’s Margaret Comstock Hall this past weekend.
The ballet is Act II of the popular Christmas theme ballet “Nutcracker.” Clara is given the gift of a nutcracker and later dreams of him and a host of other characters. The first is the Snow Queen and her Snowflakes. She engages in suave communication with gestures of invitation and gentle good byes.
Afterwards the angels appear along with the Sugar Plum Fairy, which featured children of different ethnicities with gold halos on the back of their heads. From the front it looked as if they were illuminated. Adding to that glow was their white shiny gowns, which were expanded to a circle around their feet.
As they went across the stage with their hands consistently in prayer position, it appeared as though they were gliding. The audience clapped for a third time within the first 15 minutes.
Then the nutcracker and the little nutcrackers are introduced and afterwards Clara is shown a brief trip around the world. The Spanish part had girls with roses in their hair, black tops with red accents, black lace armbands and bouncy red layered skirts, which moved with each one of their uniformed moves.
Next was a performance that made the audience clap very loudly. It was the Russian part that showed a boy swinging his leg around while squatting and another boy jumped over it each time his leg went around.
Following that was the Chinese, then Arabian, which was performed solo, the Shepherdesses with their lambs, and Polichinelles.
The Chinese had a decorative pink dragon that came out on eight legs and then became four (for its head and tail) as two of the dancers tumbled out to join the pink satin dressed, white faced, and blacked haired dancers.
The Shepherdesses’ lambs looked more like bunnies, the kids who played them were quite adorable. The Polichinelles were like harlequins and jokers as they danced around in colorful costumes. One dancing with a ribbon and the others prancing around with gymnastic moves.
The backdrop changed with each world’s setting with silhouettes. During the Chinese part, there was huge dragon print in the backdrop.
In closing, there was the Waltz of the Flowers with their leader Dewdrop. She ushered them in and out of the sides of the stage providing a cascading effect. At the end there were solo and duet performances of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Cavalier, which were flawless.
Then the entire cast and its various characters said goodbye to Clara with graceful and magnificent moves. The nutcracker made an appearance above the stage and waved goodbye to Clara and the others. Clara’s dream was just that.
