WEEKEND REVIEW : Dance : A Flashy ‘Nutcracker’ Offered in Long Beach

The special effects worked just fine. The sleigh carrying Clara and the Nutcracker Prince flew into the air, as usual, and was pulled on stage in the second act by a live horse, as usual. Streams of glittery fireworks cascaded down the back of the stage at the end of the snow scene, as usual.

Mother Ginger once again appeared with what must be the record number of children hidden under her huge hoop dress--20 toddlers, in this case. A group of other adorable little kids pushed the wagon of the Chinese couple in the divertissement on stage all right, but got it stuck in the wings on the way out. Two stagehands had to come on to liberate it.

Such are the vicissitudes attendant on any opening, and all things considered, they were not fatal when Los Angeles Classical Ballet opened a 10-performance run of its familiar production of the “Nutcracker” Saturday afternoon at the Terrace Theater in Long Beach (with later performances set for Pasadena Civic Auditorium).

The dancing, on the other hand, particularly by the imported stars, was another matter.

Oksana Konobeyeva, a member of the Moscow Grigorovich Ballet, appeared stylistically closer to a haughty and cold Odile in “Swan Lake” than to the benevolent Sugar Plum Fairy she was dancing. She was elegant in final poses but rather slack on the way to them.

Her partner was the hard-working Marat Daukayev, a Kirov Ballet principal who sacrificed elevation and elan to dutiful support and effortful correctness.

Viatcheslav Kalinin doubled as a genial Drosselmeyer and one of the high-flying Trepak quartet which electrified the proceedings. The others were brother and leader Alexander Kalinin, Ozzie Azarian and Vladimir Lagerev.

Of director David Wilcox’s home team, Tzer-Shing Wang danced the Dewdrop Fairy with sluggish phrasing and seemed to inhabit a different time zone than her flowery cohorts, who emphasized crisp and snappy terminations as usual among the well-drilled corps.

Julia Ellis was the lively Maid. Holly Zimmerman was sweet as Clara. Cody Rodriguez as her bratty brother brought welcome relief from the relentlessly lock-step activity of the children.

Roger Hickman conducted the Los Angeles Classical Ballet Orchestra with sympathetic attention to detail. Boys in the Christmas party were enlisted to sing the vocalise in the Snow Scene.

* The Los Angeles Classical Ballet will dance “The Nutcracker” Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., Dec. 16 at 2 and 8 p.m. and Dec. 17 at 2 and 7 p.m. at the Terrace Theater, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach. The company also will dance the ballet on Dec. 21 at 8 p.m., Dec. 22 and 23 at 2 and 8 p.m., and Dec. 24 at 2 p.m. at the Civic Auditorium, 300 E. Green St., Pasadena. Tickets in both locations: $16-42. (310) 427-5206.