DANCE REVIEW : A Second Cast of Principals in ‘Nutcracker’

A second cast of principals showed elegance and polish in the Joffrey Ballet “Nutcracker” Thursday at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

Jodie Gates danced the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy with gorgeous refinement and placement and filled out phrases with regal authority and a deep inner stillness. For all that, she appeared less aloof and seemed to relate more warmly to other figures than she had last week at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa. Again, she danced her variation with light but plush pointe work.

Tyler Walters as the Nutcracker Prince danced with more technical security than he had shown last week in Costa Mesa. His turns in the air Thursday were unblemished and his landings cleaner. He remained a considerate partner.

Carl Corry made an eager, good-natured Fritz and fortunately did not tower over all the children, although pairing him with the shortest boy in a sword fight in the party scene drew undue attention to the blatant differences in their ages.

As the Snow Prince, Corry danced with obvious enjoyment but had to work at sustaining momentum in the speedy virtuosic challenges. He was best in the series of skimming jack-knife jumps across the stage.

As the Snow Queen and Snow King, Charlene Gehm and Daniel Baudendistel combined authority and warmth.

In Act I, Carole Valleskey was a sly, deadpan Columbine and Pascal Benichou was an earnest Harlequin in their courting duet.

In the divertissement , Valerie Madonia and Peter Narbutas were the archly languid Arabians. Johanna Snyder, Brent Phillips, Jacob Rice and Alexander Brady were the energetic Russians.

Alexander Grant and Mary Barton again were Drosselmeyer and Clara. Joseph Schnell was the Nutcracker Doll.

John Miner conducted with a penchant for speed but also with sympathetic lyricism in sections such as the Snow Scene.