Paul Chalmer’s new Nutcracker for the Rome Opera Ballet
Unlike the UK or the States, Italy does not have a Nutcracker tradition. It is occasionally performed at Christmas, of course (though also at other times of the year) but if it’s put on at La Scala, say, it may have just eight performances. Balanchine’s version, seen in Milan in 2018, had eleven, but certainly nothing like the 31 performances currently underway at San Francisco Ballet.
In Rome, from 21 until 31 December, there will be 12 performances of a new version of The Nutcracker by Paul Chalmer to open the Rome Opera Ballet’s 2023/2024 ballet season.
The choreography of this new Nutcracker – says former dancer Chalmer – is inspired by the traditional and iconic productions that I have danced and admired for more than fifty years now.
The Canadian dancer started to choreograph when he was still dancing. He then staged some of the classics, and then original full-length ballets based on well-known stories. His name has become synonymous with clearly told plots and intelligent staging.
The Nutcracker was the first ballet Chalmer saw as a child and the first he danced in. In his career as choreographer he has tackled it twice, and in this new version he has searched for a synthesis of his version for the Leipzig Ballet (2007) and that of the Opera Nova Bydgoszcz in Poland (2015). After conquering Rome’s dance crowd with their performances in La Bayadère earlier this year, Georgian ballerina Maia Makhateli will guest as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Brazilian dancer Victor Caixeta will play her knight. In the same roles will also be company étoiles Rebecca Bianchi and Susanna Salvi together with principal dancers Claudio Cocino and Michele Satriano, and the soloist Giacomo Castellana. The étoiles Alessandra Amato and Alessio Rezza (who dances the Nutcracker prince) are also in the casts.
What has always struck me about the many productions of The Nutcracker that I have danced and seen – says Chalmer – apart from the magnificent score, are the unique visual worlds created by great set designers such as Jürgen Rose, Desmond Heeley, David Walker and Nicholas Georgiadis. While choreography is undoubtedly vitally important, I think it’s the strength of a production’s dramaturgical and visual aspects that determines its success in taking audiences on a magical journey.
His creative team includes designs by Andrea Miglio (sets), Gianluca Falaschi (costumes) and Valerio Tiberi (lighting). Nir Kabaretti conducts the theatre orchestra.
Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Carla Fracci.
Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.
He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.
