Oakland Ballet: Whimsy elevates Guidi's 'Nutcracker'

In a blinding flash onstage, the human versions of the Nutcracker, the Mouse King and the Ballerina were magically replaced by small inanimate dolls. Seated somewhere behind us, a young patron of Oakland Ballet let out a decidedly impressed, "Whoa!"

It's a wonderful thing to watch a piece of theater inspire awe, and the warmly enthusiastic audience was certainly awed at the Oakland Ballet Company's "Nutcracker," which opened its six-performance run at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland on Friday.

Even if this is not the most lavishly budgeted or refined production in the Bay Area, the childlike, antic humor and whimsical storybook settings distinguish and elevate director and choreographer Ronn Guidi's intimate retelling of the oft-told "Nutcracker," which premiered in 1972.

Read more on the SF Chronicle site.
(Photo by Marty Sohl)

More mugging the merrier in Ballet San Jose's 'Nutcracker'

There's a pleasantly warm, homey feeling almost as soon as you walk into the San Jose Performing Arts Center for Ballet San Jose's "Nutcracker." It's the kind of show at which a complete stranger might lean over the seat back and chat as if you'd been friends for years, and at Thursday's opening night for the company's two-week run, dancegoers of all ages were in anticipatory high spirits.

Artistic Director Dennis Nahat's staging of his 1979 ballet - with a scenario that he and the late Ian Horvath adapted from an E.T.A. Hoffmann tale - is a jaunty, colorful affair, full of bounce-and-go, enough to charm the first-time viewer or even the most jaded veteran of "Nutcrackers" past.

Read more on the SF Chronicle site.