Two critics went to Philadelphia Ballet’s ‘The Nutcracker.’ Here’s what they thought.

Tchaikovsky or Balanchine? Great musical score or balletic showcase? Everyone experiences The Nutcracker in a different way, but the miracle of the piece is that it’s all that — plus a dash of magic. Friday night, Inquirer critics Peter Dobrin and Ellen Dunkel saw and heard the opening of Philadelphia Ballet’s Nutcracker at the Academy of Music and talk here about this year’s production.

Peter: Hi, Ellen. The Nutcracker comes around every year (well, except at the onset of the pandemic) and yet I was totally taken with it — again. But I confess to have been visited by an intrusive thought: Is it time for Philadelphia Ballet to come up with an original, new, non-Balanchine production of it, something that puts the dance and music more on equal footing (and gets rid of the violin solo from a different ballet)? It would be a great chance for Angel Corella to put his stamp on the company. Why does this company (and others) stick with Balanchine?

Ellen: Hi, Peter. I wonder how audiences would react. Nutcracker and many other ballets were a gift from Balanchine to Philadelphia Ballet founder Barbara Weisberger. She was his first child student when he opened his school in New York in 1934. Later, when he wanted to spread ballet across the United States, she approached him and said Philadelphia would be a good place to start and he gave her ballets, dancers, and moral support.

Philadelphia Ballet was long known as a Balanchine company — until Corella was hired in 2014. He said he would keep Balanchine’s Nutcracker. But he has choreographed a lot of full-length ballets and hired other choreographers. It would be interesting to see a Corella Nutcracker. It could be a difficult decision, though, as Nutcracker accounts for a majority of the annual budget. I suspect that’s why so many stick with Balanchine. It’s tried and true and will pay the bills.

Peter: But what’s so great about it?

Ellen: Nutcracker is an odd one, in general. The two acts have little to do with each other. I like Balanchine’s party scene, but I don’t think it stands above others. He does a great job with the magic. Everyone has the tree growing and the snow onstage — even very small local performances usually have both. But there’s also his transition from the normal house into the giant world where the toy soldiers become actual fighters and the quick transition from the wooden nutcracker to the Prince.

I love the snow scene. The dancers, in an icy blue, seem to blow and drift across the stage. My other favorite scene is the flowers, who bloom on stage, especially in Judanna Lynn’s costumes with layers of free-floating petals. Dewdrop, during the flower scene, is just delightful. She has five entrances and her feet barely touch the stage before she’s off for the next step. On opening night, Mayara Pineiro may have actually missed a couple of steps being as light as possible on stage, but if so, I forgive her for it. Balanchine’s divertissements are also charming.

Peter: Bits and pieces of the dance music are ubiquitous at holiday time but we rarely get to hear Tchaikovsky’s full score, which is why hearing the entire ballet is so special. I wish the Philadelphia Ballet Orchestra had more players, so the sound could have the full emotional impact. That said, this first night had some great marriages of music and sound — the jerky characterization Nicholas Patterson brought to the Act I soldier role with conductor Beatrice Jona Affron’s tempo for the orchestra, for instance. The quick pace of the “coffee” dance, on the other hand, didn’t seem to suit the music or the dancer, Oksana Maslova. What did you think?

Ellen: The coffee dance in general seems dated. There’s no getting around the fact that it leans into the Arabian stereotype, both in costume and dance. The organization Final Bow for Yellow Face has done a great job trying to remove these Asian stereotypes from ballet. Philadelphia Ballet was one of the companies that toned down the gestures and makeup in its tea, or Chinese, dance. But it can go further, especially in coffee. That said, the coffee dance requires a very flexible dancer, and Maslova, a former rhythmic gymnast, more than fits the bill in that area.

Peter: How “opening night-ish” did Friday night look to you — were the corps de ballet tight, did the soloists take the kinds of chances needed to communicate real personality? I had hoped for a little more expressive freedom from some of the orchestral playing.

Ellen: It didn’t seem opening night-ish to me. It felt like a normal, good performance. I was happy to see Sydney Dolan as the Sugar Plum Fairy, though. Ballet fans usually enjoy following dancers throughout their careers and I wrote about her when she was 17, fairly new to the company, and had won a Princess Grace Award. Her dancing and acting were both great. I liked her reactions when the Prince was telling how he slayed the Mouse King and saved Marie.

I liked Sterling Baca as her cavalier, too. His carriage and dancing are regal before he takes a step. I’ve been watching him since he was in the corps de ballet at American Ballet Theatre. Corella (a former ABT dancer himself) took Baca directly from there to be a principal dancer in Philadelphia Ballet.

Speaking of opening night-ish, last year we talked about the audience being pretty chatty. Did you notice a lot of people taking photos and video? It seemed the ushers were constantly on the move telling many of the same people over and over that photos and video were not allowed. I’m assuming many of them were parents of young dancers onstage. On one hand, it was very distracting. I wish the ushers had done more, but I imagine that would interrupt the audience experience even further. On the other, Inquirer reporter Kristen Graham’s young son was one of the members of the Philadelphia Boys Choir who sang during the snow scene. I half felt like pulling out my phone and taking pictures, as well.

Peter: I found the ushers swooping in more distracting than the cell phones — the cure was worse than the illness in this case. I did feel for Luigi Mazzocchi, who had to play his big violin solo while the ushers were seating latecomers. It got incredibly noisy. I just don’t know what you do about bad audience behavior. On the other hand, it was heartening to see the audience so absorbed. But, as you say, who could remain unmoved by Sydney Dolan? She’s got charisma for days. More like that, please.

Ellen: I agree, more of that. Balanchine’s Nutcracker is beloved and magical. But you had a good point. For all the full-length ballets Corella has redone, he hasn’t touched Nutcracker. It would be interesting to see how he would handle it. Audiences still flock to this version, but it would be great to see something new in the future. Let’s meet back here next year to see what changes — if anything!

Philadelphia Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” continues nearly daily with a rotating cast through Dec. 30, including a sensory-friendly performance at noon on Dec. 26. At the Academy of Music, Broad and Locust Streets. Tickets are $25-$352. philadelphiaballet.org, 215-893-1999.