The Nutcracker Ballet: A Holiday Family Favorite

 In Dellos

The month of December wouldn’t be the same for dance, theatre and music enthusiasts without the traditional family outing to see, “The Nutcracker Ballet”. As a child, there wasn’t a year that went by without our dress-up holiday-kickoff, sometimes seeing as many as four different Nutcrackes all in one month! I remember sitting on the edge of my seat at just 7 years of age, my body shaking with fear during the opening mouse-fight scenes. I asked my mother why the mice were so scary and ugly. She replied, ‘Just close your eyes on this part’, as she pulled me close to her. I think I kept my eyes closed until the intermission! When my mother spoke of going to see another version the following week, I expressed my fears. Fortunately this time the mice weren’t big and menacing, there were actually cuddly and cute, and it was a that time that I became Nutcracker-holiday-hooked for life!

For those who haven’t experienced a night at the ballet, The Nutcracker is a good one to start with. The story is simple and the stage is festively decorated and the characters have a magical quality. It is based on the book, “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King”, written by E.T.A. Hoffman. In 1891, Tchaikovsky was commissioned to write the music for the ever-changing storyline. In 1892 the first Nutcracker took place in Russia, home of The Kirov Ballet. It made its way to Western Europe in the 1930’s and to America by 1940. The first full-length Nutcracker was performed by The San Francisco Ballet and has since become an annual holiday tradition, performed by hundreds of ballet companies around the world. It is the story of a young girl who dreams of being taken to an enchanted land by a Prince who endured a fierce battle against a Mouse King with seven heads. It opens with a party scene and the gift of a beautiful toy nutcracker given to Clara from her Uncle Drosselmeyer. Her brother, Fritz, becomes jealous and grabs the Nutcracker from his sister, causing it to drop and break. Uncle Drosselmeyer magically repairs it and Clara takes the Nutcracker to her room where she falls asleep with him clutched in her arms. As the clock strikes midnight, strange things begin to happen. Clara shrinks as the Christmas tree grows to the ceiling! Giant toys around the tree come to life led by oversized mice and a giant Mouse King. As the Nutcracker awakens, he leads his army of soldiers into a full battle, eventually defeating the mice. The victory turns the Nutcracker into a Prince and he takes Clara on a journey to The Land of Snow and The Land of Sweets where she is greeted by The Sugar Plum Fairy. As special visitors, she and the Prince are entertained by dancers of all nations: Spanish, Arabian, Russian and Chinese with a special finale, The Waltz of the Flowers. When Clara’s dream ends, she finds herself near the Christmas tree with her beloved Nutcracker still in her arms, both of them safe from harm’s way.

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