THE NUTCRACKER by Oktana Dancetheatre
Choreography: Konstantinos Rigos
(Rex theatre, 23/12/2014)
The Nutcracker is the title of Konstantinos Rigos' melodrama of 2010
(2014 remix) based on the well-known story of little Masha (or Clara,
depending on the version of the story), the little girl whose dream
on Christmas Eve gained notoriety through the Petipa ballet,
choreographed in the music of P.I. Tchaikovsky. Her girlie dream of a
Prince of remarkable courage, who beats all enemies and suitors and
leads her down the aisle, aka the land of sweets and happiness, has
inspired numerous versions and interpretations, one of the most
modernized and well-known being this of Mark Morris, made at the peak
of the gender-troubling-the-ballet days, in the early '90s.
K. Rigos' version, focuses on Clara as a grown-up. The Nutcracker of
her childhood she sees in every man she meets, and she meets many,
who furthermore, are not the gentle, nice, elegant, willing to cater
for all her needs Prince of her dreams, but insensitive (?) men who
fool around with her and abandon her or mistreat her.
Sheer melodrama of the classic gay tradition, Rigos' Nutcracker had
it all: self-destructive lady, reckless life, beauty, melancholy,
tears, fits of rage and mood changes, the ideal female persona aka
the one with rampant sexuality, broken, tragic, desired, living for
others' desire -plus great dance. Konstantinos Rigos is a
traditionalist and a true romantic in his depiction of a
disillusioned female, despite his allusions to gang bangs and bold
nudity on stage as a standard element of each and every work of his.
His heroine does not know what happens to her, she is a victim to her
will to be desired, she down-lives her once amazing dream of a
glorious love and spends her years in endless cruising. K. Rigos'
daring dames can enrage any feminist but he is without any
question, a master of melodrama and knows well the codes of the
genre, which he serves faithfully and with dedication. Αnd in there, somewhere, below the surface, one sees his dedication to the propagation of another idea: the need for equality and freedom of every aspect of human sexuality, and sometimes the combination of multiple choices in one and the same person. Whether this is due to guilt or freedom, this is another question. What is important is that for years, the choreographer has invested on galantly provoking his audience, while successfully passing on his "messages".
PLUS:
****great dancers
****provocative
Is it a good show? Yes!
To see? Yes!
