Photo courtesy of the BSO.
This concert, the third in a series of holiday offerings, introduces Baltimore audiences to William Langley, the newly appointed Staff Conductor of the BSO. In this position he will have a broad range of responsibilities, including oversight/programming of specific repertoire and conducting smaller concerts. Maestro Langley conducted Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” with enthusiasm and vigor, even participating in one of Troupe Vertigo’s humorous scenes.
Troupe Vertigo offers a splendid holiday circus of beauty, technical prowess, amazement, and humor to be enjoyed by adults and children as they listen to the luscious sounds of the BSO playing the unforgettable Tchaikovsky score.
Jack Everly, former BSO Principal Pops Conductor, introduced Troupe Vertigo to audiences here several years ago. His long collaboration with the company has resulted in concerts and the creation of a custom ensemble-based themed show where professional circus acts enhance the enjoyment of a symphonic work. The company, founded in 2009 and based in Los Angeles, performs throughout the USA and Canada and offers several different productions of expertly directed and choreographed scenes of movement to the music.
The Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall is decorated for the holidays with a magnificent Christmas tree in the lobby, wreaths and small trees lit with white lights on either side of the stage, and spotlights changing colors above the stage. For this performance, there were also fog machines in the side balconies. Blue lighting of the fog created a wintry atmosphere.
Troupe Vertigo included ballet, acrobatic, and aerialist performances. The acrobatics included gymnastics (tumbling, cartwheels, splits), balancing, rhythmic twirling (hoops, batons, ribbons), contortion, and juggling. Strength, balance, and coordination between performers were on display in various scenes telling the story. The aerialists, using straps, silks, hoops, and a trapeze bar, performed acrobatic movements and poses while suspended in the air. Their flexibility and artistry in the gravity-defying spinning, dropping, spiraling, and suspending thrilled the audience.
I particularly enjoyed the contortionist, bending and twisting his body into strange and unusual positions in slow movements to the beautiful rhythms of the music. His physical flexibility and strength were astounding. The balancer, using platform, stacking cylinders, and a ladder, also amazed the audience with his coordination and control. Another unusual act, known as the “hair hang,” involved two aerialists with hair braided around a steel hoop which is then attached to a steel cable. The cable lifts them up in the air to perform acrobatic feats and poses. One might call them “hairealists!”
The entire program, complete with dazzling costumes, clever props and set pieces, such as a very tall, shimmering green, dancing Christmas tree, gave added thrills to the story of “The Nutcracker.” The performers are a true ensemble, working together and individually, assuming different characters as the scenes progress. Troupe Vertigo offers a splendid holiday circus of beauty, technical prowess, amazement, and humor to be enjoyed by adults and children as they listen to the luscious sounds of the BSO playing the unforgettable Tchaikovsky score.
Running Time: One hour and 45 minutes including a 20-minute intermission.
“Cirque Nutcracker” was performed on December 13, 2024, at The Music Center at Strathmore, 5401 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesday MD 20852, and on December 14 and 15, 2024, at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral Street, Baltimore MD 21201. For more information and to purchase tickets for upcoming events, please call the Box Office in North Bethesda at 877-726-1444 or in Baltimore at 410-728-8000, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday from 12 noon-5 p.m. In person one hour before each performance and through intermission for walk-up sales, or go online.
