DANCE REVIEWS : ‘Nutcracker’ Success for Pasadena Troupe

In “Nutcracker” narratives, the age of Clara, nutcracker doll recipient, is crucial. If she’s a young girl, we can be taken into her dream of glitter and candy-cane fantasies. If she’s older, as in the Pasadena Dance Theatre’s version, the ballet can lose some of its ability to let us rediscover youthful wonder.

Working with the oldest version of “Nutcracker” in North America (created by Willem Christensen, in 1944), PDT has a Clara who towers over her friends, peevishly plays with dolls, then becomes a prima ballerina overnight and dreams a royal court with static pages and ladies in waiting. That’s one kind of fantasy, but when Clara is so composed and doesn’t even stick around to see the array of dances in her honor, one loses the thread.

This way, however, Clara does get to dance, and on Saturday night Jacqueline Kowskie made the most of that with partner Frank Martinez in both the Snow pas de deux and in the Waltz of the Flowers. Dancing a muted but technically exciting grand pas de deux were guest artists Elizabeth Loscavio and Mikko Nissinen, from San Francisco Ballet.

Described by artistic director Charles Maple as “in transition from regional to professional,” PDT features several levels of technical skill, from loose around the edges to very respectable.

Generally brisk recordings of the score were well-projected throughout, making for a cheerful party scene and well-paced second act, although most of the divertissements could use renovation (more dancing, less prancing).