JOANNE DODDS
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
It feels good when you see hard work rewarded. Thursday night, the Sangre de Cristo Ballet Theatre Company's "Nutcracker" performance was outstanding. Every dancer was better than they were last year.
Much of the credit belongs to Artistic Director Karen P. Schaffenburg who came to Pueblo in 2000. Each year the "Nutcracker" performance, under her guidance, has been a little better. This year, the company made a giant step forward professionally.
There are several reasons for this artistic leap. This year many of the dancers who were Stars or Angels when Karen arrived were the featured dancers in this production. With more skilled performers, Karen was able to increase the complexity of the dances.
The addition of two professional male dancers was another significant improvement. In the past, some of the Cavaliers were a little long-in-the-tooth. Last night, the Cavalier (Tye Love) and the Sugar Plum Fairy (Sydney Gettel) were not just on stage together; the nicely paired couple danced beautifully together.
The cute moments were reduced and more connecting links were added that tied the performance into a single story instead of a series of independent dances. All of the larger parts were enhanced. The Rat Queen (Juliana Millbern) emerged as an engaging character. The Snow Queen (Megan Duling) and the Snow King (Jonathan Guise) along with the Snowflakes were the best ever. And, the Waltz of the Flowers with the Dew Drop Fairy (Emily Aldag), Roses (Mimi Diawara and Cissy McDaniel) and Butterflies (Isabel Diawara and Rebecca Van Dover) was especially graceful.
Highlights of the Kingdom of Sweets were Spanish Chocolate (Rebecca Higgs with Anneliese Carlson and Ellen Skay), Arabian Coffee (Paige Cipperly with Alexandria Clough and Remi Kessler) and the Silver Flutes (Paige Cipperly, Mimi Diawara and Megan Duling) along with French Horn (Jonathan Guise) dances.
Lastly and certainly not least, was the charming Clara Stalhbaun (Grace Marie Lobato) who started her Nutcracker career as a Star just as Sydney Gettel did. Both ballerinas have worked hard, polished their skills and were stars Thursday night.
The remaining four performances of "Nutcracker" are sold out.
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