The classical russian ballet transported the guests in the sold-out kurtheater into a magical world of fairy tales. The program of the winter magic in kissingen included "the nutcracker by pjotr ilyich tchaikovsky and nothing suits christmas better than its third ballet adaptation from 1892.
The spa theater in bad kissingen does not necessarily offer the best conditions for a glittering ballet event. The relatively small stage and a painted backdrop as a substitute for atmospheric stage scenery on the one hand reduce the possibilities of an ensemble to present its dancing qualities, and on the other hand require the imagination of the audience, who more or less have to imagine the atmosphere on a christmas eve in the family circle, in the snow-covered fir forest and in the fairy-tale-like sugar castle. Due to the limited space, there was no orchestra, but this small deficiency was more than compensated for by a good orchestral work and thanks to the perfectly tuned acoustics.
Colorful
Despite these limitations, on the one hand, the well-known arrangements of the composer P. J. Tchaikovsky, who wrote the tale "nubknacker und mausekonig" (nubcracker and mouse king) from E. T. A. Hoffmann, and the choreography, which goes back to marius petipa and was realized by hassan usmanov, dancer and artistic director of the ensemble, in a classical interpretation with an ensemble that enjoys playing. The ballet "the nutcracker" begins with a light-hearted, happy christmas eve in the coarse circle of a family. A motley and colorful schar celebrates christmas eve dancing. The children are happy about the presents and especially about uncle drosselmayer’s puppet show – and the awakening of these puppets in the dance. Harlequin, puppet, devil, mouse king and of course the nutcracker showed as soloists their classical training and thus their dancing skills by powerful jumps, fast turns and body tension up to the fingertips. In addition, the ensemble of the "corps de ballet" showed a great performance through exact formations and convincing synchronization, that it is possible to express the fairy tale story of clara and her nutcracker prince with feeling, even in a small space, with graceful movements and filigree step sequences.
Tender love
The fairy tale continued in clara’s dreamland, where the mice and the toy soldiers danced and won under the leadership of the nutcracker. The latter miraculously transformed into a prince and both experienced the first traces of a tender love in the fir forest and in the "snowflake waltz" of the twelve charming actresses a high point of the evening. After a short break the second act started in the magic castle of zuckerberg, where all the puppets came to life and became a feast for the eyes of the guests. Spanish, arabic, chinese and russian dance as well as the dance of the pipe flutes showed once again the quality of the dancers, who presented themselves sometimes atmospheric and graceful, sometimes mysterious and jumpy.
Fulminant finale
From the "flower waltz, all the performers in the ensemble of around two dozen dancers conjured up a brilliant finale of the pas de deux, in the middle of which prima ballerina natalia kungurtseva and first soloist alexander butrimovich once again demonstrated their dancing qualities with precise lifting figures, whirling turns and powerful jumps. After a first half, which developed the story of the nutcracker in a somewhat reduced and distanced manner, the ensemble and soloists of the muscovite ensemble rose to the occasion in the second half. The well-deserved reward was an overwhelming applause combined with bravos that brought the actors to the curtain three times.