“The Nutcracker” is coming – first shows will be performed at the main stage of NOVAT on 23rd and 24th September. A new rendition of the most popular and beloved ballet-tale is offered to the Novosibirsk audience by an outstanding Spanish choreographer Nacho Duato and a French scenery designer Jerome Kaplan.
Authors of the new “Nutcracker” wanted to add some new contemporary breath into an ageless ballet masterpiece, keeping all the magic charm of this wise tale.
Performers of Marie and Nutcracker - Denis and Anastasiya Matvienko are married in real life; they told us about the surprises and wonders of the new “Nutcracker”.
“New production of “The Nutcracker” is designed for the modern kids. I would like to stress the word “modern”, because the kids nowadays are nothing like the ones fifty and more years ago – told us Denis Matvienko, Director of the Ballet Company, Honored Artist of Ukraine. – Every feature of Nacho Duato’s performance – choreography, scenery, costumes, lighting – is designed for contemporary way of perception, today’s state of mind, but not for kids only – adults would find the performance amusing too.”
Soloist of the Mariinsky theatre Anastasiya Matvienko will dance in NOVAT for the first time as well as perform Marie’s part in “The Nutcracker”. “We tried out Nacho Duato’s “Nutcracker” on our daughter Lisa, she was about one year at that time, and she liked it. Lisa understands and cares about the plot, it actually is captivating from the very first scene; she likes the costumes, the sets and she still finds it interesting though she watches it on a regular basis.”
To make a performance more comprehensible for a modern audience Nacho Duato tends to make stage action of his renditions of classic ballets develop quicker, and Denis Matvienko agrees on that with the master: “Nowadays, when I watch classic ballet productions – and I watch a lot of traditional performances – I find most of them boring, even the ones I used to dance, and I want to apply some changes. For example, “The Sleeping Beauty” lasts for hours, it’s hard to watch even if you love it. Nacho Duato managed to keep the original plot and to highlight the important details to make a dynamic, vivid, modern performance, watched in one breath”.
Denis Matvienko is familiar with Nacho Duato’s choreographic verve, and for his wife Anastasiya “The Nutcracker” at NOVAT is the first experience with original Duato’s choreography: “I was worried at first, since it’s my first time with Nacho Duato’s ballet. But after a couple of rehearsals I memorized the order and got acquainted with the patterns and realized this choreography is comfortable to me. Digging deeper I feel how musical and natural Nacho’s plastique is; it doesn’t conflict with the classics, and if you have a solid classic basis you won’t find his patters too difficult. I’d like to take part in other Duato’s performances”.