DANCE REVIEW : Harvey as ‘Nutcracker’s’ Sugar Plum Fairy

Showing her customary technical authority, Cynthia Harvey danced her first Sugar Plum Fairy in Kevin McKenzie’s new “Nutcracker” in an otherwise largely familiar cast Saturday afternoon at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.

The American Ballet Theatre principal dancer brought ease and amplitude, a generalized beneficence and steady aplomb to the role, although she had to contend, surprisingly, with consistently muffed or insecure lifts from her (previously reviewed) Cavalier, Guillaume Graffin.

The role may offer few opportunities for dramatic character projection; Harvey, at any rate, exploited hardly any.

Dancing Dew Drop for the first time, Marianna Tcherkassky showed animated--if at times feverish--pixie charm, which at least had the virtue of giving the character a distinct personality. Technically, she moved sometimes with skimming lightness, sometimes with less energized flair.

Ethan Brown enacted a calm, supportive and unthreatening Drosselmeyer, without engaging in extremes of involvement. As a force of reason in the Christmas party, however, he added to the possibilities of the character.

The other principals have been reviewed previously. Jack Everly conducted.