Outstanding!
by Nita on 12/13/23The Maryland Theatre - HagerstownVery well put together. All of the dancers were great, especially the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Dew Drop Fairy.
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Academy of Music - PA
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Academy of Music - PA
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The Nutcracker On Tour
Every adaptation of The Nutcracker is the same, yet each The Nutcracker is different from all others. Although it premiered in Saint Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre on December 18, 1892, composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker wouldn't become the dependably magical holiday-season reaffirmation of Christmas joy we know and love until decades later.
Marius Petipa, who commissioned Tchaikovsky's music, and Lev Ivanov originally choreographed the world's most popular ballet. It was loosely based on Alexandre Dumas' The Story of a Nutcracker, the French writer's adaptation of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, which was a fantastical story by German author E.T.A. Hoffmann. Mourning the recent death of his sister, Tchaikovsky was often unhappy while composing the work, which he nonetheless imbued with some of his most enduringly gorgeous music. (The descending melody in the adagio section of the "Grand Pas de Deux" is said to reflect his feelings.)
Russian ballet was flourishing at the time The Nutcracker debuted, and no expense was spared. In Petipa's production, 60 snowflakes wore long white tutus and matching crowns adorned with fluff balls. The battle scene's soldiers, meanwhile, were recruited from a military academy rather than ballet school, leading to a less-than-elegant confrontation.
The Nutcracker was fated to become more popular abroad than in its birthplace, and was subsequently tailored to suit its new audiences. Encouraged by local Russian émigrés, Willam Christensen mounted the first full American production in San Francisco in 1944. Ten years later, George Balanchine choreographed a landmark version for the New York City Ballet, imbuing it with what Nutcracker Nation author Jennifer Fisher calls its "familial feeling." Balanchine's version was broadcast on national television a few years later with narration by June Lockhart (of Lassie fame).
While nearly every subsequent version of The Nutcracker contains falling snow, fighting mice, dancing candy, and a growing tree (asked to produce it without the tree, Balanchine reportedly replied, "No, the ballet is the tree"), some intriguing mutations have emerged. These include Nutcrackers on ice, the animated adaptation Walt Disney included in the 1940 movie Fantasia, and The Harlem Nutcracker, a swinging jazz revision by choreographer Donald Byrd.
A remarkably resilient blend of complex classical ballet, popular imagery, and holiday nostalgia, The Nutcracker has taken on a life of its own since it first appeared one cold Russian winter over 100 years ago.
Very well put together. All of the dancers were great, especially the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Dew Drop Fairy.
Our group of four left at the first intermission because we were not enjoying the show. It was cute, but I expected a much bigger production. I really feel like I overpaid for the tickets.
The show was good, however I was expecting The Nutcracker. This show was in fact the nutcracker, but it was a Duluth Tale. I was not expecting that. I was expecting to see the Mouse King and that did not happen. The first act was hard to follow, but the second act was funny and more in the Christmas theme.
I adore the Nutcracker and have attended countless performances over the years. I was excited but nervous when I heard Ballet Memphis was changing its traditional version, but it made sense, and it was time. I loved the final product they created. The intense amount of work on sets, choreography, and costumes was evident. I appreciated moving past the country caricatures in the Land of the Sweets dances, I know they are traditional, but they can be offensive and Ballet Memphis proved you can do so much more with the beautiful music of the Nutcracker. Thank you for all of your hard work and your gift to Memphis!
Definitely a good performance overall but not a show you can promote for a wider audience aside from the families and relatives of the dancers or actors of this school. I saw some people leaving the theater after realizing this was more a family event than a public one.
Everything went very smooth with our tickets. We had great seats for the show. I would definitely recommend the nutcracker to anyone who has not seen it.
It was a nightmare. No a live symphony orchestra. The male lead dancer is unable to lift the female lead. We got center Seats, very disappointed, not coming back again
No problems and the show was right on! Nice venue to see a show.
I was so impressed with the staff at the DECC. They were so kind and attentive, helpful with the tickets in Ticketmaster. The Nutcracker Ballet was done so beautifully. This will be a wonderful memory for ever. Thank you.
Beautiful colors. Love the outfits. Kids were awesome and talented.
Loved every aspect of the show. The dancers were amazing. The cast was so full of happy vibrant dancers. The music was great. Loved it.
The Nutcracker was wonderful. The Memphis Ballet and orchestra did a phenomenal performance. The dancers were amazing and the music was perfect.
Took my grandchildren and they loved it!! Once in a lifetime experience. We made a lot of wonderful memories
This was a “take” on the Nutcracker, but it was NOT the Nutcracker. We were disappointed to learn this at the beginning of the performance. Had I known this I probably wouldn’t have spent hundreds of dollars for our family to attend. The performance was messy and busy and it was hard to know what was going on on the stage as there were dancers all over the place the whole time. Kids definitely lost interest and I had a hard time figuring out what was going on as an adult. I wouldn’t go again.
Took my daughter who is in pre-point ballet. She loved it. She said maybe I can be in it next year. She wanted to come back and see it again the next day.
Paid to see a bunch of little kids on the stage, main dances did great though.
This was such a high quality performance! Everything from the costumes, music, lighting, stage screens etc... was remarkable!
The performance was well done, although a little slow start. The lead ballerina was subperb! This is my second year coming, but I don't think I will return. The venue is terrible, referring to the seating arrangements. The seats are very narrow and the alignment from row to row was not placed well. That being said, I had Grizzly Adams seated directly in front of me making it extremely difficult to see the performance. If a different venue is selected in the future I would return. The seating can make or break a performance and in this case broke it. I don't want to take away from the group as they were fantastic, but...
This year’s Nutcracker Ballet was amazing!!! New costumes and sets paired with the talented, graceful dancers kept me mesmerized the entire time. The talent in the orchestra kept my husband’s attention as well. My favorite was Anwen Brown as the Sugar Plum ferry. She was breathtaking! I saw it last weekend and haven’t stopped thinking about it since. If I had the time to see it again, I definitely would. It’s a DON’T MISS performance!!
Never been to the Ophreum or Nutcracker absolutely amazing so beautiful and calm. My kids loved it as well. They are a little young to understand but they were able to follow along jusr find .