‘NUTCRACKER’ : JULIO BOCCA IMPRESSES IN LOCAL DEBUT

Along with winning a gold medal at the 1985 Moscow International Ballet Competition, 19-year-old Julio Bocca has the distinction of having danced the “Nutcracker” prince in three far-flung locales--Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Novosibirsk (U.S.S.R.) and, on Friday, Costa Mesa (U.S.A.)--at three major junctures of his career.

Bocca’s exciting North American debut in the American Ballet Theatre “Nutcracker” at the Orange County Performing Arts Center confirmed his superior technical prowess and fine sense of style.

Short, thick-legged and boyish, the young Argentine could not command the elegant line of a born ballet-prince, but his training gave him plausible nobility of bearing (including refined gestural skills) to complement his natural sweetness and generosity as a performer.

Dancing opposite the familiar Clara of Cheryl Yeager (strong in the classical challenges, sincere but dimensionless as an actress), Bocca displayed remarkable elevation as well as lightness in jumps, notably sharp, high-velocity turns and the most effortless partnering--even in the 16 or so lifts of the last scene that have often left other Ballet Theatre princes looking like they needed the attention of paramedics.

Bocca also added technical embellishments to a role created for (and by) Mikhail Baryshnikov. This daring nearly backfired in his Act II solo Friday when he lost verticality in a spectacular spinning sequence. He seemed about to fall but made a sensational recovery--finishing on time, in place and with such cool assurance that even Fernando Bujones might seem self-effacing in comparison. His future should be very interesting.