We all have a sweet treat we like to indulge in from time to time, whether that be a box of expensive chocolate or some old-fashioned snickerdoodles.
But in choreographer Alexei Ratmansky’s “Whipped Cream” ballet, those sacchariferous delicacies and more meet creative genius. Performed by the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) and with the help of pop-surrealist Mark Ryden, this over-the-top glitzy ballet has all the necessary trappings for a regular one, yet is clearly anything but regular. It has a certain lilting aura, combining Ryden’s imaginative wonders, the schmaltzy sounds of a Strauss score, and Ratmansky’s youthful and literal choreography to create something close to an artistic miracle.
Here’s the idea: a young Boy and his friends go to celebrate their first holy communion at a sweet shop, where the Boy falls ill and is taken away, whilst the shop comes to life with marzipan archers, princely sugar plums, and gingerbread combatants. A grand pas de deux between Princess Tea Flower (Stella Abrera) and Prince Coffee ( Calvin Royal III) stirs jealousy in Prince Cocoa and Don Zucchero (Joseph Gorak and Blaine Hoven), and with that, the first act disappears into a world of whipped cream as dancing dollops whirl around the stage.
After an intermission, act two begins ominously, with the Boy in bed as he is accosted by a doctor and an army of nurses, and things really go off the rails when the doctor self-medicates with a bottle of cordial. With the doctor asleep, his liquor comes to life as Mademoiselle Marianne Chartreuse (Catherine Hurlin), joined by two flirtatious bottles of rollicking vodka (Duncan Lyle and Marshall Whitely). They dance a pas de trois and defeat the nurses by means of intoxication, spiriting the Boy away along with a lively procession of weird creatures and blissfully ignorant Princess Praline (Skylar Brandt). They arrive in a candyland of dreams where a giant wizard named Niccolo, daffy animals, a snow yak, and a candy-cane salamander live, along with many other strange beasts. This is where the story ends, and the Boy lives happily ever after with Princess Praline.
So, no doubt about it. This ballet is a show-stopping creation, and is definitely as expensive as it looks. No corner was cut in the making of this outrageously amazing production, and it shows in every demented detail. It is with a new concept of lunacy that I send you readers off into the darkness to make your own path, and hopefully, that path will be as sugary and enjoyable as this wonderful ballet.
