Pirouette after pirouette, plie after plie, the Moscow Bolshoi Theater’s soloists accompanied the audience going into raptures to the strains of Čajkovskij at the Palameeting conference center in Riva del Garda.
What an amazing occasion! The not-to-be-missed soiree gathered some 1600 people together with applauses and dreaming gazes under the outfitted awning.
IT ISN’T CHRISTMAS TIME WITHOUT THE NUTCRACKER
The ballet with a Christmas atmosphere par excellence, the Nutcracker has come on the Lake Garda Trentino shores move after move, with its rarified dreamlike vibes, suspended between dream and reality.
The libretto was created by Petipa, the Russian Imperial Theaters’ choreographer in the 1800s, who got his inspiration by Hofmann’s tale, a German pre-romantic writer. He wrote Nußknacker und Mausekönig, a rather “strong” tale Alexandre Dumas turned into less “bloody” and children-oriented.
As for me, having lost a little bit of my innocence, I perceived all the intentions Hoffmann had, as well as his metaphor for Clara’s transition from childhood to adolescence (Hoffmann actually named her Maria or Masha, a Russian nickname).
Maybe it is because I’m not 8 anymore, but when the nutcracker soldier turns into an handsome and well-built prince I forgot where I was for a moment. There was nobody around me, it was just me and him (yeah, also Clara had disappeared!).
My nutcracker danced with me or better, I was as graceful as the Bolshoi dancer who tripped in her red-dressed soldier’s arms gracefully.
Until the last dance when Clara wakes up in a sweet waltz. Her dream ends up here.
While the night makes way for the day, the gentle protagonist holds her nutcracker (back a toy) and recalls all the emotions lived during that night.
MUSICA RIVA FESTIVAL: CULTURE, MUSIC AND EMOTIONS
Promoted by the Musica Riva Festival association, the show brought not only a marvelous fairytale on the lake shores, but also and mainly the idea that beauty, culture, music, theatre can’t and shouldn’t be a privilege for few people, but rather accessible to everybody and every age.
In this way, also the youngsters can be educated and helped to remember that dreaming is fine, as Clara teaches us. I am still waiting for that nutcracker I bought on my last trip to Munich to turn into a prince. You know, hope is the last to die!
