Photo by Amitava Sarkar, Courtesy of Houston BalletIf Cecil B. DeMille and Flo Ziegfeld produced a holiday show, it would look suspiciously like Stanton Welch'sfor Houston Ballet. It is lavish and lush the DeMille way, with solid sets and fantastical costumes, and for Zeigfeld, there are legs for days and more dancing than usually seen in this seasonal cash cow.
But the real wonders explode in the dancing. Except for specific effect, Welch eschews stasis. The ballet is built for movement, and the stage is alive with it. Characters don't walk so much as glide or lightly step. Why walk when you can prance; don't run, chassé. Welch's choreography gives the characters their character. And those patterns. No contemporary choreographer knows his way around a stage like Welch.
The Nutcracker continues through December 24 at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and also Monday through Wednesday December 20-22; 6:30 p.m. Sundays and 2 p.m. Saturdays; with 2 p.m. performances also scheduled for December 20-24 at the Wortham Center, 501 Texas. Audience members are required to wear masks at all times unless they are eating or drinking. For more information, call 713-227-2787 or visit houstonballet.org. $27-$200.
Three stories are told. Young Robert , with mother issues, is a lawyer on the rise, married to his job, and neglectful of wife Kate . Maggie and husband Jack , solidly blue collar, have yet to tell their ten-year-old son Nathan that mom is dying. Meanwhile Jenny shares custody of daughter Annie with estranged husband David . Like Robert, her work has taken the joy out of her.