Pared down 'Nutcracker' still sweet

The Grand Kyiv Ballet performed a stripped down version of the holiday classic "The Nutcracker" on Thursday night at The Egg.

​The Grand Kyiv Ballet doesn’t trot all the technical trappings of “The Nutcracker,” but this fine ensemble still succeeds in creating a version of the Tchaikovsky classic that shimmers.
 
The ensemble, which performed two nights at The Egg in Albany, draws in its audience with beautiful sets and costumes and dancing that is as light and sweet as spun sugar.
 
It’s extraordinary, really, when one thinks that they endeavor to make some magic for American audiences when their hearts and minds are likely with their family and friends in the war-torn homeland. Yet that was what they did – carrying on with ballet’s holiday tradition minus some divertissements and effects that “The Nutcracker” afficionados have come to expect. For example, there was no real children, no growing Christmas tree and no snowflakes in the forest that are scattered as the dancers – the real snowflakes -- swirl among them.
 
And while I pined for that as well as a missing-in-action Motherginger (the ballet’s comic relief) as well as the airy shepherdesses, I found myself swept into the beautiful dancing of this small ballet ensemble – particularly the main characters – Petri Conte as Marie and Mykola Khoma as her chivalrous nutcracker.
 
Conte, as the young girl excited for Christmas who ultimately discovers the enchantment of love, was gorgeous. She was generous and open, playing the innocent child with wide-eyed, eager virtue.
 
Khoma, a slender and tall dancer, was ideal in the role of the brave nutcracker who fights off a small army of mice to protect Marie. His landings on bended knee at her feet from his heights of passion exuded a romantic fidelity that could be mistaken for nothing but true.
 
While these two carry much of the ballet, the Act II divertissement dancers were also excellent – particularly the Arabian couple that astonished with their contortions and the male Chinese dancer whose speed in both his turns and jumps was astonishing. (There was not program so the dancers, for this portion, were sadly unidentified and unacknowledged.)
 
It was also pleasant to see that the costumes for the Slavic duet were Ukrainian folk. This couple too was magnificent in their proud shoutout to their county’s rich heritage.
 
Of course, the grand pas de deux was delightful, though a bit understated. Conte and Khoma could have attacked their finale with more flare. They also need to smooth out some of the bumps when flying into high lifts and dives.  Unsteady flourishes aside, they radiated joy and that what we all need right now – Ukrainains especially.