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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.
Ballet Quad Cities Nutcracker is pure joy! These professional dancers are so graceful and athletic. Local children and youth add to the magic.and live music by Orchestra Iowa. Lovely costumes, too.
The Ballet production seems to have suffered major budget cuts this year. The lighting was poor, often times one couldn't see the performers. The floor was slick - several dancers slipped/stumbled. Set was sparse. Some costumes did not fit correctly. This production didn't 'follow' the true Nutcracker story. Characters were added, flying people (even a flying tumbling act), scenes were deleted, songs omitted. My nine year granddaughter kept asking why was that different, who was that person?, where were the soldiers? After the performance, the dancers came out as the crowd was leaving. Several children thought that the dancers were 'real' and had come to visit them. They were disappointed - the dancers went out of character greeting friends/family, rushing away - ignored the children.
wonderful production, my family and friends loved every minute of it !
All in all the play was a good one, it was the Nutcracker. When buying these tickets though it explained that it was the Russian Ballet and not the School of Russian Ballet. There were many errors and nothing was done in-sync. You could tell who the professionals were (only two of them) and they were phenomenal! A few of the older students did excellent as well and were great to watch. Other than that we did contemplate getting up and leaving, but the price we paid kept us in our seats. I get it the students are learning and the only way to improve is to continue doing their shows. It just would have been nice if it was explained more in the ticket description. Just disappointed we thought we paid for a professional Nutcracker show and did not get that.
Parent number 4 (aka male asian dancer) stole the show!
We took our five year old granddaughter to Genesee Theatre, hoping that it would be more enjoyable for her than the longer Jeoffrey performance we saw last year at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago. The best part was that two dancers were available in the lobby after the performance. Clara gave her a long stem rose, and a Spanish dancer asked if she wanted a hug and she loved it. The repetitive scenes with two main dancers were kept in the performance, and the scene with Mother Ginger was eliminated. It seems eliminating the former, and including the latter, would have made for the perfect performance. If more dancers had been available after the show to the many children who were enamored of them the day would have been perfect.
Wonderful show. I would go see it again! I would highly recommend this show to everyone one. Excellent cast!
Best Nutcracker production and performance! Enjoyed it!!
It was incredible!! I have loved it since I was a little girl, and have studied Tchaikovsky in my college years, also watched The Nutcracker televised version for years, but this live performance gives me an entirely new love for The Nutcracker!!!
Overall this was a good presentation but it lacked the quality of a professional company. The good: the story and music puts everyone in the Christmas spirit. Many of the dancers showed some great skill. We throughly enjoyed watching Angelica South dance! The bad: Many of the moves were predictable and off sync with each other. It seemed more like a school dance that allowed dancers to develop rather than a professional performance. The costumes were old and outdated. The set was mostly one dimensional and cartoonish. While it didn't wow us, it didn't detract from what was on stage.
I surprised my 5 year old daughter with tickets to this and don't regret it one bit. It was a great experience for both of us, especially since neither one of us have been to anything like this before. The music, displays, and costumes were all beautiful. I was recommending this to friends on Facebook before we were even home! If I could make a suggestion, it would be to add a couple more dates/times to the event.
The main dancers were wonderful and that was before I read that they were 14 and 17 years old. What!?! The entire cast of dancers clearly worked very hard to put on a flawless performance. Some of our local talent is truly gifted. I enjoyed the entire production.
Best Nutcracker to see in Birmingham. Children and community dancers, but GOOD! Make this a Christmas tradition!
MY DAUGHTER AND I HAVE BEEN ATTENDING THE NUTCRACKER PERFORMANCE EVERY YEAR SINCE SHE WAS 7 YEARS OLD, SHE IS 24 NOW. WE ALWAYS LOOK FORWARD TO OUR 'TRADITION'. THIS YEAR'S PERFORMANCE WAS GREAT, MORE DANCERS, BETTER TALENT. PRODUCTION WAS DIFFERENT THAN IN PAST YEARS.
Ballet Memphis Doe Not Disappoint. As always a Great and Wonderful Holiday experience!!!
Show was amazing. Loved seeing the kids. Music was great.
This event was fantastic. It was so nice to see so many local young talent joining with the professionals to make this a truly enjoyable Friday evening in Scranton. My wife had a chance to relive her middle school experience as the Sugar Plum Fairy and we both loved it so much. The venue was great and needs further financial support so these events can continue. This was our first time to the SCC and I wish the organizers, volunteers all the luck and we will come back.
My girls really enjoyed the music and the ballet that was performed,
We love everything about watching the Nutcracker performance year after year. It's one of our Christmas traditions, going on 30 + years now. The ballerinas are beautiful! amazing! the musicians are so amazing! and so much vibrancy from the conductor. we love coming to Clowes year after year and watching this beautiful show. I know so much work is put into it. thank you all! We do not take it for granted!
Really enjoyed the performance. Was s perfect option for younger children, not knowing if they had the focus to sit for 2 hours at The Opera House. But they did and we were pleasantly surprised by the talent!