JAZZ AND DANCE REVIEWS : ABT’S ‘NUTCRACKER’

At 27, Daniel Baudendistel is one of the youngest dancers to portray the character role of Drosselmeyer in the American Ballet Theatre version of “The Nutcracker.” With his high cheekbones, stylishly cut dark mane and manners of an aloof dandy, he is certainly the most glamorous.

Unfortunately, when Baudendistel joined familiar principals in the previously reviewed staging Friday evening in Shrine Auditorium, his looks and manner helped derail the ballet dramatically.

After all, when Clara’s mysterious, omnipresent godfather comes on like a pouty pop star and is, in fact, five years younger than her fantasy Prince (the noble, technically assured Ross Stretton), Drosselmeyer’s function in this psychologically oriented “Nutcracker” becomes hopelessly distorted.

Baudendistel mimed with authority and suavely partnered his Clara (the vibrant, lyrically pure Deirdre Carberry). However, in the climactic pas de trois of the last act, with Drosselmeyer and the Prince contending for Clara, this miscast godfather seemed the classic embodiment of a brooding, rejected suitor, a more complex figure than the adolescent girl who is the ballet’s true protagonist.

In the divertissements , Cynthia Anderson and Robert Hill gave the Spanish Dance exceptional flair and Amanda McKerrow and Gil Boggs brought maximum sharpness of attack to the Chinese Dance. Jack Everly conducted with great zest and urgency.