‘Nutcracker’ Season Comes Early This Year : S.F. Ballet Presents San Diego’s 1st of 3

Normally you don’t expect visions of sugar plums until after you’ve cleaned your plate of turkey and pumpkin pie. But the signs of Christmas are all around us, and tonight the season gets formally under way with the San Francisco Ballet production of “Nutcracker,” the first and most heralded of three “Nutcracker” runs scheduled for San Diego.

Although most regional ballet troupes in the country have embraced the “Nutcracker” as a yuletide tradition, it was the San Francisco Ballet’s 1944 production that introduced the full-blown balletic fairy tale to American audiences. It took a few more years--until Balanchine mounted it for his New York City Ballet--before the ballet catapulted to national prominence.

Since 1954, however, “Nutcracker” has become the ballet world’s favorite showcase for company kids--and the biggest moneymaker in the dance realm.

The San Francisco Ballet’s “Nutcracker,” choreographed by William Christensen after the original Russian version by Ivanov, has changed a bit over the years, but just a bit.

“Basically, it’s the same,” said the company’s artistic director, Helgi Tomasson. “We still have the waltzing flowers and Mother Ginger, but the Chinese dance had been a dragon dance. Now, instead of one dancer with a dragon like in Chinatown, we have a male and two female dancers. And instead of a ribbon dance, we have the Russian dance. The major changes had to do with the vision that Jose Varona had for the new production.”

Verona, who designed the widely acclaimed sets and costumes for the company’s fourth version of the 19th-Century classic, moved the time frame back into the Biedermer period of the 1830s--a change that suits Tomasson to a T.

“I’ve only seen this one (designed in 1986) and the one before that,” Tomasson said, “but I like the change in time much better. It brings the ballet closer to when the story was written.”

The ballet is based on E.T.A. Hoffmann’s “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” and, as Verona noted, he went back to the original Hoffmann story for inspiration, because it was “more mysterious, magical, and sinister”--essential ingredients for an effective “Nutcracker.”

As Tomasson pointed out, “Balanchine was in on the discussions with Christensen when he was putting together the first ‘Nutcracker.’ They were reminiscing about the Russian version, and, even though they choreographed it differently, the order of the ballet flows the same way in both.”

One noticeable difference--along with the obvious stylistic individuality between Balanchine’s and Christensen’s choreography--is the number of children in the productions.

“This one has a lot more children in it than the New York City Ballet’s ‘Nutcracker,’ ” Tomasson said. “I think it’s a wonderful idea to use a lot of children, and we’re using local San Diego children again this year. It worked out very well last year. I’m amazed how well-behaved they are.”

The director cast San Diego children in the production of “Swan Lake” that traveled to San Diego earlier this fall, and he believes that kind of experience is very important to budding ballerinas and danseurs .

“I see it as a great opportunity for children. It gives them an incentive to keep going with their training. I started dancing in Europe when I was just a child,” he said. “That’s why I put all the children in ‘Nutcracker.’ ”

Tomasson, who danced in Balanchine’s “Nutcracker” many times during his illustrious career with the internationally renowned company, acknowledged that “Balanchine put so much more emphasis on dancing and the quality of the dancing in his production.”

Consequently, Tomasson beefed up the dancing in his company’s “Nutcracker.” Nevertheless, the ballet remains more a visual spectacle than a vehicle for virtuoso dancing.

“Even so, you still have to go out there and dance very well,” Tomasson said, “or you’ll be taken out and replaced by someone else who will. That’s not any different from dancing in any other ballet.”

The troupe’s new “Nutcracker” has been a bonanza for the San Francisco Ballet, attracting audiences from throughout the Bay Area.

“We have to do two shows a day, except for Christmas Day . . . just to keep up with the demand,” Tomasson said. “We get great audiences, and we’ve been approached by other cities to take the production on the road.”

At this time, however, San Diego is the only stop on the touring trail for this popular “Nutcracker.”

“Part of the problem is the timing,” Tomasson said. “It’s basically a Christmas show, although Balanchine did his in Saratoga in July one year and it was very successful. Of course, in Europe they do ‘Nutcracker’ as just another ballet in their repertory. It’s not considered a holiday show. And it’s never been as popular there as it is in this country.”

There’s an old cliche about ballet that still serves as a byword for perfectionists: Ballet has to be great to be good.

“There are a lot of ‘Nutcrackers’ out there, and many of them are of much lesser quality--maybe because of funding or whatever,” Tomasson said. “And some people say ‘Nutcracker’ is just ‘Nutcracker,’ but I don’t approach it that way. You have to make it magical. You need wonderful dancing. And you have to involve your audience.”

This is the San Francisco Ballet’s second year in San Diego, and Tomasson expects the association to evolve into a long-term partnership with the city.

“I can’t see why not,” he said. “It’s been wonderful, and the audiences are great.”

The troupe will dance its “Nutcracker” at the San Diego Civic Theatre through Sunday, with matinees Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The musical accompaniment will be provided by the San Diego Symphony.