As certain as there is eggnog and mistletoe, there is an annual production of Tchaikovsky’s best-known work. The Joffrey adorns the holiday confection with felicitous glitz and spectacle; bejeweled costumes, a children’s chorus, rapid-fire virtuosic solos (in the Land of Sweets scene) ornament the stage of the golden Auditorium Theatre—a plush visual gift wrap for one of the most famous pieces of classical music and dance ever set to stage. Featuring Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino’s elegant choreography, the Joffrey “Nutcracker” holds strong as a seasonal family treat and the gateway ballet for those who tend to run at the first sight of tutus and men in white tights; strap a giant rat king head on one of your principle dancers and all those fussy French moves seem a lot less stuffy. Sure, you’ve seen it a half-dozen times, but that doesn’t stop you from watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” every Christmas, or insisting your friends who haven’t do so immediately. Take the family, take someone who’s never seen a ballet, sit back and feel like a kid again. (Sharon Hoyer) At the Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress Pkway, (312)902-1500. December 18-28. $25-$100.
Complementary Opposites: A Preview of "Serenade" and "Of Mice and Men" by the Joffrey Ballet “Both [ballets] are trying to deal with a particular time: One by healing with the beauty of dance, the other by trying to create empathy for beaten-down humanity. Right now, we’re facing some of the same issues, such as huge migrations from the workplace. Steinbeck shone a light on his time, and I hope we’re able to do the same.”
Not Quixotic Enough: A Review of the Joffrey Ballet's "Don Quixote" at the Lyric Opera House Performance-wise, the Joffrey Ballet's production of Yuri Possokhov's “Don Quixote,” running through June 12 at the Lyric Opera House, is terrific, displaying the company’s trademark combination of sterling technique and dramatic flair. There’s not a false step (other than the pratfalls by the effete aristocrat, Gamache, played with clownish glee on six-inch heels by Fernando Duarte) or an inelegant line…
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