Bang Group goes 'Nuts' at Kaatsbaan

The Bang Group performs "Nut/Cracked" at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park in Tivoli this weekend. Tickets are still available for Saturday night's show.

David Parker took a nutcracker to “The Nutcracker.” And then he and The Bang Group sprinkled it with some seasonal magic to unspool the most irreverent and delightfully amusing take on the holiday classic.
 
His “Nut/Cracked,” now being presented at Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, is for all of those who love Tchaikovsky’s beloved score, but run out of patience with the ballet’s formality 30-minutes in. This is not to say that Parker and crew are disrespectful of the annual dance extravaganza. Rather, they put a humorous and often surprising spin on “The Nutcracker.” It’s deliciously, laugh-out-loud decadent.
 
It was created in 2003 as a genre and dance-fluid celebration that tapped, boureed and leaped to the jazzy rendering by Duke Ellington and Glenn Miller of the familiar music. However, much of the piece, which is about 70 minutes long, is guided by the music as written. And Parker, and co-director Jeffrey Kazin, cheerfully nod to Marius Petipa choreography – even in their off-kilter and hilarious versions of the scenes.
 
The waltz for the snowflakes is a good example. The dancers, white Ts and black stripped sports pants throughout, moved like skaters who slipped, slid and fell on the snowy ice. Not only does it add a slapstick element, which could be seen throughout, but it was so artfully done that it spiced up the choreography.
 
The piece began with Parker and Kazin tapping out and singing (lyrics they must have written) to the score’s overture. The dancers then burst from the wings to gather up the props for the show – a boa, a rose, hats, gloves and red bouquets.
 
Then it became clear that the score would be delectably tossed about when the dance of the Sugarplum, on a dark stage, came next. All that one could see was the feet of a dancer en pointe whose toes were following a miniature spotlight.
 
The stage went black again, ready for the party to begin. It cleverly did with two – like the feuding siblings Clara and Fritz – who twisted themselves around a gift, which when ultimately opened contained snow.
 
Though the order of the music was re-arranged, it didn’t matter as there were so many charming and hilarious moments – for example Parker’s rendition of the Chinese divertissement where he balances en pointe and sucks up a noodle from a cardboard food box. Just as the music ends, the noodle pops in his mouth.
 
The waltz of the flowers is a hysterical solo on bubble wrap, the growing Christmas tree crescendo is a burlesque-like wet dream and the Russian trepak is a parody of all amateur dance productions ever. The grand pas is a celebration of thumb-sucking affection. You have to see it to believe it.
 
It was ridiculously foolish and I loved it. You will too. Sunday’s matinee is sold out, but tonight’s 7 p.m. performance has tickets available at kaatsbaan.org.