Gratutious Holiday Musickal Tradition Posting

This weekend, I stumbled across the 1977 Baryshnikov/American Ballet Theatre production of The Nutcracker. Although I saw this many times on PBS as a kid, it must be twenty years since I last did. I'm happy to report that, although the colors of the tape were nearly washed out, the performance was as good as I remember it. (Full disclosure: for all my musickal posting, ballet is the form about which I know the least, so don't count on my opinion here as being worth much.)

The only thing that disturbs me about this performance is the way it seems to emphasize the relationship between Clara (danced by young hotshot Gelsey Kirkland, whom Mr. Baryshnikov apparently was giving a little extra pied-a-pading at the time), and her Godfather Drosselmayer (played by creepy-looking Alexander Minz). Something just a wee bit icky about that whole business - you almost expect Drosselmayer to break into a chorus of "Thank Heaven for Little Girls". I've always meant to reread the original E.T.A. Hoffman to see if there's anything to this sexual undercurrent. Even if there is, I can attest from other performances that it isn't necessary in order to make the ballet work.

Anyhoo, I was quite pleased enough to go out and buy the DVD. It would be nice if the Llama-ettes got as hooked on this as I did (and didn't have to sit through interminable PBS fundraising to do it).