William Myers, Highland Park
To the editor:, For the past several years I have attended the American Repertory Ballet of Princeton’s performances of Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker” at the State Theater. The principal dancers, including Nanako Yamamoto, Lily Saito, and Shaye Firer, are evocative of the finest performances of the past Nutcracker stars such as Anna Pavlova, Alicia Markova and Alexandra Danilova. These are truly wonderful artists., The performance of Mizuki Sato should be recognized by every lover of classical ballet; her style is precise and passionate. She stands out in every performance I have seen since she joined as a trainee in 2013 — an extraordinary dancer., It is a very beautiful performance, with a first-rate orchestra. You feel the spirit of Tchaikovsky’s music. The choreography of the “Dance of the Snowflakes” seems a true reflection of Lev Ivanov’s original; one extraordinary revelation, after studying various productions of the Nutcracker, including the Sergeev notebooks of the early performances, is this resemblance — executed on a smaller stage., If I had to make a choice between attending a Nutcracker by ARB or by any other company in the world, I would choose ARB. The dancers have a talent which is unrivaled. Even the pantomime of the very youngest members is extraordinarily well-done. They truly perform for their audience, and I feel fortunate to live in the vicinity of such a ballet company. It is a convergence of so many great talents in one place, like a rare conjunction of planets and stars., William Myers, Highland Park
