Under the gnarled bough of an ancient pōhutukawa tree, resplendent with crimson flowers, this localised interpretation of The Nutcracker unfolds. A vocal audience sigh and guffaw at the multiple EnZed references: dripping ice-cream mishaps; games of touch rugby and cricket; a mother spearfishing for kaimoana; jandals and gumboots.

Bright and joyous, choreographer Ty King-Wall offers this work as a balm in a disrupted world. It lands with delight on the audience who appreciate every nuance. A resplendent tūi flits through and a bumbling kererū crashes to the ground drunk on berries.

An acknowledgement of te ao Māori (the Māori world), with the inclusion of Moana Nepia as Clara’s koro, situates the work culturally in Aotearoa, as the cast frolic in an idealised summer at the family bach – an attempt to broaden this middle class Pākehā reality. [More]

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The dilemma of a Southern Hempishere Christmas ballet is solved! We are firmly in February and the curtain rises on a quintessential Kiwi bach with our own pōhutukawa in silhouette against a Pacific sky. Costumes by Tracy Grant Lord immediately put us in story-time mode and the bright lollipop colours gleefully provide a dose of Kiwiana kitsch.

This production, directed by Ty King-Wall, has his own sentimental take on growing up in New Zealand but also speaks strongly of his experience as part of the tradition of The Nutcracker that is in every dancer’s repertoire. The choreography often references the original and much-renowned sequences of Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. 

Under the magical baton of Hamish McKeich, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra gives a beautifully realised performance of this famous Tchaikovsky score. There are bird songs connecting us to our bush and the Kingdom of Sweets is a frivolous  feast of summer treats. I have to admit I struggle to recognise most of them but have since identified Lolly Cake, Pavlova, Hokey Pokey Ice cream cones and even Chocolate Fish in the sweet treats on offer.

King-Wall has kept to the storyline even as the dancers are bare legged in frilly play suits and the children are in perfectly matched colours in a way that no children ever are! They bring an energy to the beach gathering and fish ’n’ chips provide an appropriate and humorous picnic. The dance vocabulary references hand jive and social party moves.

The Magician who arrives with presents, including the traditional Nutcracker Doll, is not mysterious nor magical but a slim, elegant, gorgeous Aunt Drosselmeyer (Kirby Selchow) wearing a stunning cloak and a wide-brimmed sombrero. The ‘dolls’ are birds, the parents are young, Clara and her brother tussle – and there is a Koro played by Moana Nepia, who adds gravitas and a sense of generational perspective to the family gathering.

Lighting by Jon Buswell and film effects by POW studios are strong elements of this production and I love the flight over mountains that Clara and her Prince are taken on by Aunt Drosselmeyer. A perfect reason for the snowflakes and swirling snow that is so European in a northern winter. Here it is our snow and our mountains – albeit a tad slippery for the spinning virtuosity of the dancers.

The Lolly Cake trio are exciting but the absolute stand out dancing comes, as it traditionally always should, from the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Nutcracker Prince.

Showing consummate mastery of very challenging and technical choreography, this is a Pas de Deux that stops me breathing – literally! Danced by Mayu Tangigato and Laurynas Vejalis, who partner seamlessly and are superbly in command in every classical move, this is the real icing on the cake in this production.

Clara (Caterina Estevez Collins ) is excellent as the child for whom all this happens. Abruptly the dream ends – she wakes in her father’s arms after sleeping under the summer stars and returns to the bach where it all began.

Frivolity and fun, this is escapism and an evening in a dream world surrounded by things we all hold dear. Thanks to all and to Ty King-Wall for making it happen.

Dance should connect us and our issues, and is an opportunity for social comment. This Nutcracker has been created as our own and gives us time out and a chance to think. It is perhaps superficial but it is also a super treat.

Go see it when the RNZB comes to your city.

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