Advertised as a hip-hop take on the Christmas perennial, Bouba Landrille Tchouda's A Nutcracker (featuring his Compagnie Malka) uses portions of Tchaikovsky's 1892 score (supplemented with a few percussive interludes by Yvan Talbot), but goes beyond a simple reworking of the famous ballet to re-imagine E.T.A. Hoffmann's original 1816 story as a coming-of-age piece in which a young, tousle-haired girl faces a choice between the safety of home and the dangers lurking outside. Clara (Sonia Delbost-Henry) finds herself amidst a sea of colorfully wrapped boxes offered by her protector (Hichem Sérir Abdallah), from which a company of brightly clad dancers emerge. But also entering her world is a handsome but sinister stranger (Rémi Autechaud) to whom she's drawn. Tchouda has incorporated hip-hop moves, but the general influence of modern dance is also apparent, and the serpentine motions that he has contrived for Autechaud—who executes them brilliantly—are especially effective. So long as one doesn't come to A Nutcracker with expectations of a traditional family extravaganza (aside from the presents and a few other strategically placed cubes, the stage is bare) or a coherent narrative (one episode in which Clara and her fellow performers drop down in unison to scrub the floor seems totally meaningless), Tchouda's creation can be appreciated for its canny mixture of youthful exuberance and dark undercurrents. Presented in PCM stereo, this is a strong optional purchase. (F. Swietek)
A Nutcracker
(2014) 70 min. DVD: $29.99, Blu-ray: $39.99. Arthaus Musik (dist. by Naxos of America). Volume 30, Issue 1
A Nutcracker
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