DANCE REVIEW : Chapman a Courtly Prince in ‘Nutcracker’

Courtly Southern charm comes in handy when you’re the Nutcracker Prince, and Alabama-born Wes Chapman--dancing the role in American Ballet Theatre’s “The Nutcracker” for the first time, Sunday afternoon at the Shrine Auditorium--was the most gracious cavalier imaginable.

Even when he fell out of a turn in his first solo in the Waltz of the Flowers, he managed to finish with royal aplomb in a graceful, seated posture. It was a rare stumble from a dancer who understands the elegance of true epaulement and princely amplitude of gesture. His beats were clean, his turns finished neatly and his elegant line retained its nobility in coasting jetes.

A solicitous partner for Bonnie Moore’s wonderfully impulsive, little-girlish Clara, Chapman was the consummate host at his castle, monitoring her reaction with amused delight. He needed a clearer dramatic focus when Herr Drosselmeyer (Raymond Serrano) returned to claim Clara, however. This Prince was such a nice guy, it looked as though he might be willing to consider a menage a trois.

But Chapman has a lot to offer a company desperately in need of true cavaliers. Elfin, impetuous Moore was his perfect match.