By Mike Dunham
Yun Kyung Kim and Juan Carlos Amy-Cordero: In this Eugene Ballet Company photo by Cliff Coles, they are in the roles of the Sugarplum Fairy and her Consort. In Anchorage they were seen in the roles of Clara and the Nutcracker Prince.
It wasn’t just “Lion King” hangover that led the house announcer to barely catch himself while urging patrons to “take their seats for Disney’s ... for ‘The Nutcracker’,” on Friday afternoon, before the first of this weekend’s six performances scheduled for this weekend.

Eugene Ballet Company’s production of the Christmas classic has something of the look of old pre-pixel animation, with unabashedly two-dimensional sets and comic book scrims. The folds of the curtain are painted on, for instance. There are splashes, like Drosselmeyer’s bright yellow jacket, that scream “Technicolor” in the relatively sedate, standard costumes. Don Carson, once associated with the Disney studios, is credited with the set design.

That aside, the choreography in this version seems particularly good. Most of the time most of the moves are relating directly to whatever’s going on in the music. The dancers stay in sync with the beat coming from the orchestra. Even the clacking swords in the fight between the Mouse King and the Nutcracker Prince are timed with the music.

That helps to keep interest focused on the very familiar tale. So does the use of the same dancer as both Drosselmeyer’s nephew and the Prince. Keep your eye on him; he gets off some superb kicks right away.

(A specific cast list for the principal dancers wasn’t available at press time. From the photos in the program, I’m assuming the Prince and Clara were danced by Juan Carlos Amy-Cordero and Yun Kyung Kim, who have previously paired in the parts — but it appears that the company dancers swap roles with regularity.)

Among the other tweaks is the substitution of skaters for snowflakes in the first act waltz, which allows the male dancers to be included with agreeable effect. The party scene has several nice touches; the dancing bear is replaced by an uncooperative jack-in-the-box jester and the mechanical ballerina does NOT want to go back in her case. There’s a Chinese dragon, accompanied by the insertion of percussion, that precedes the Chinese Dance. The battle, with the mice entering on a pirate ship, is precise and mostly coherent, but I’m guessing the cannon didn’t go off as planned on Friday afternoon.

The transformation of Clara’s house was interesting, somewhat macabre, with explosions, strobes and black lights all adding excitement. I’m not convinced that it’s enough excitement to make up for production’s elimination of the growing Christmas tree — a customary bit of razzle-dazzle that, when well done, is among the most perfect matches of music and stage special effects ever.

There are some cuts in the score, all for the best. Chief among these is eliminating the Prince’s re-enactment of the first act battle scene in a second act pantomime — an outstanding example of redundant theatrical miscalculation. Its excision makes the whole second act a lot more brisk. Even the final tableau seems to fit. I didn’t find myself hankering for it to be over before the final curtain.

The party scene is a well-balanced mix of formal dances and mime. The character dances are left in tact, thank heavens, and the Russian Dance brought the biggest round of applause and even some cheers.

Young local performers, as usual, have several turns. Some are relatively static, like a pre-battle row of mice (“Those are the cutest mice I ever saw in my life!” said someone in my row) and angels (“What is this,” said a younger voice behind me, who made many comments throughout the afternoon, “angel inspection?”).

But other contributions are more substantial. Clara’s brother, Fritz, was well-danced by Florence “Flory” Boots from Alaska Dance Theatre. In addition to the usual busy choreography for the kids at the party, Mother Ginger’s children (the Bon-Bons) have to perform more complex routines than is typical. (Mother Ginger, herself, was a mask that would have looked right in place as a cartoon figure in one of Disney’s movies.)

Six local dancers join the Eugene professionals in the Waltz of the Flowers, helping to fill the stage and built to the musical and terpsichorean climax, and do themselves credit. I can’t name everyone in the two casts (94 plus the Oregonians!) but I will name these six, who perform at all the shows: Emma Chastain, Abby Keller, Suolena Koy, Anny Ning, Krista Thompson and Anne Weaver.

“THE NUTCRACKER” featuring the Eugene Ballet Company with local dancers will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Friday and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and 1 and 5 p.m. on Sunday, in Atwood Concert Hall. Tickets, $25-$45, are available at centertix.net.

Find Mike Dunham online at adn.com/contact/mdunham or call 257-4332.