Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – American Ballet Theatre commences its fall season with Alexei Ratmansky’s deliriously giddy WHIPPED CREAM

• By drediman
• October 26, 2022
• No Comments

This past weekend, I attended the closing performance of Alexei Ratmansky’s staging of Whipped Cream, which commenced American Ballet Theatre’s fall season with a weeklong run at the David H. Koch Theater (the season continues this week with a pair of enticing-looking mixed bills). Unveiled in 2017, the evening length story ballet features a score and libretto by Richard Strauss, which choreographer Alexei Ratmansky has dusted off in an act of inspired reclamation. The work tells the story of a boy who overdoses on sugar during a visit to a confectionery. At the doctor’s office, he concocts a plan to escape, triumphantly, to the land of sweets.

In terms of Ballet Theatre’s recent crop of new evening length story ballets, Whipped Cream is one of the company’s finest efforts. Yes, the premise is a bit flimsy, but it poetically transcends its seemingly lightweight stature, thanks in large part to Strauss’s sumptuous score and Ratmansky’s uncannily expressive choreography. Featuring characters like Princess Praline and her court, Princess Tea Flower, Prince Coffee, and the marching Marzipan, the ballet delights in its surreal and whimsical world, which is as bizarre as it is delectable. Indeed, Ratmansky leans in on the ballet’s delirious giddiness and strangeness, giving us a world that’s just slightly off-kilter, particularly as designed with sickly sweet, borderline menacing extravagance by artist Mark Ryden. To be sure, there are strong shades of The Nutcracker in Whipped Cream – a risk that has paid off handsomely for Ballet Theatre. By capitalizing on a tried-and-true formula, the ballet company has given New Yorkers a family-friendly ballet that can thrive during The Nutcracker‘s “off-season”.

Interestingly, for essentially a family-friendly show, Ratmansky’s steps are fiendishly difficult. On the Sunday matinee I attended, some of the soloists and corps members struggled with the challenging choreography (particularly during the confectionery scene in the first act). However, the dancing was superlative when it needed to be, particularly from veteran principals Devon Teuscher (lovely, stylish) and Core Stearns (dancing with the most character I’ve seen from him) as Princess Tea Flower and Prince Coffee, respectively. In the central role of The Boy, Tyler Maloney danced with convincing youthfulness, despite performing with a slight injury. Throughout, maestro Ormsby Wilkins conducted Strauss’s score with his typical enthusiasm and abandon.

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WHIPPED CREAM
Dance
American Ballet Theatre at David H. Koch Theater
1 hour, 45 minutes (with one intermission)
Closed