Holidays

The Nutcracker

Holidays
The Nutcracker
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Did you know? The celesta, the instrument that gives the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy its shimmering sound, was so new that Tchaikovsky had it smuggled into Russia so other composers wouldn't steal the unique sound. elaborate

Fact 1 of 23

23 facts about The Nutcracker

  1. 1
    Contrary to popular belief, the Nutcracker is not just a holiday play but technically a two-act ballet that tells the story of a girl's dream world coming to life.
  2. 2
    Despite the winter setting, the first Nutcracker ballet was based on a version of the story written by Alexandre Dumas, the same man who wrote The Three Musketeers.
  3. 3
    Some modern productions use projectors to map video onto the stage, which once resulted in a snowflake projection accidentally appearing on a dancer's face, making them look like a winter storm.
  4. 4
    In the original literature, the girl character is actually named Marie, but the name Clara was used in the popular German ballet adaptation and eventually became the standard for most productions.
  5. 5
    The original Nutcracker story was written by E.T.A. Hoffmann and is much darker than the ballet, involving a seven-headed Mouse King and a long, complicated royal curse.
  6. 6
    Many people think the Nutcracker is a ballet that has been popular since the day it premiered, but it was actually considered a flop and poorly received by critics during its first performances in 1892.
  7. 7
    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the composer, originally thought his score for the ballet was far inferior to his previous work, Sleeping Beauty.
  8. 8
    The ballet premiered in 1892, but it was considered a total flop by critics who thought the music was too symphonic and the choreography lacked enough dancing.
  9. 9
    George Balanchine, who choreographed the most famous American version, actually played the role of the Mouse King himself when he was a child.
  10. 10
    Many people assume the Nutcracker is a prince for the entire show, but in the original Hoffmann story, he is a cursed toy who remains a bit wooden and stiff until the very end.
  11. 11
    The celesta, the instrument that gives the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy its shimmering sound, was so new that Tchaikovsky had it smuggled into Russia so other composers wouldn't steal the unique sound.
  12. 12
    In the original German folklore, nutcrackers were often shaped like soldiers, kings, or policemen to represent authority figures whose jaws you could control.
  13. 13
    The reason we associate the Nutcracker with Christmas is almost entirely due to the massive success of the ballet in the United States starting in the 1950s.
  14. 14
    Contrary to the movie versions, the Nutcracker does not typically speak in the ballet, as the entire story is told through pantomime and dance.
  15. 15
    If you look closely at the Mouse King's costumes in professional productions, some are designed with hidden zippers so the dancer can shed the 'skin' of the mouse quickly to reappear later in the show.
  16. 16
    In some theater traditions, the person who plays the Nutcracker doll at the start of the show is a different dancer than the one who plays the prince at the end.
  17. 17
    The Russian dance, known as the Trepak, is one of the fastest pieces in the ballet and is based on a traditional folk dance involving rhythmic squatting kicks.
  18. 18
    While the ballet is famous for Christmas, the actual party scene takes place on Christmas Eve, but the story technically continues into the next day.
  19. 19
    Nutcrackers are often painted with bright, cheerful colors, but historically they were intended to ward off bad spirits and bring good luck to the household.
  20. 20
    In the original story, the girl is actually named Marie, not Clara, which is the name of her favorite doll.
  21. 21
    The very first Nutcracker dolls were actually designed as functional tools meant to crack open hard nuts, using their teeth as a lever to apply pressure.
  22. 22
    Many people believe The Nutcracker was an instant holiday classic, but it actually took several decades and a few production re-writes before it became a popular Christmas tradition.
  23. 23
    In the original version of the story written by E.T.A. Hoffmann, the Nutcracker had to fight a seven-headed Mouse King who wore seven golden crowns.
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