“The Nutcracker” As A Ballet:
“Without Nutcracker, Christmas will no longer be Christmas.” This western catchword can be said to express the great influence of nutcracker in western culture. But what is the original “The Nutcracker”?
This ballet debuted at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg in the winter of 1892. Composing music by master Tchaikovsky, choreographed by ballet master Ivanov. The script is written by Petipa, who is the father of the classical ballet of Russia, adapted from the German writer Hoffman’s fairy tale “The Nutcracker and the rat king”.
In the original “The Nutcracker and Mouse King”, The author tried to use the tone of the child to tell about a color and atmosphere full of mystery, darkness, horror, and everywhere there is an adult world of doubt and accusation. The playwright Petipa cuts the strange, horrible or even evil parts and elements often found in Hoffman’s literature. Compared with the original fairy tales, the play of the ballet “The Nutcracker” is very streamline.
The beautiful music of the ballet “The Nutcracker” is undoubtedly an important artistic factor that it can be circulated for a hundred years. Together with the other two classic ballet works “Swan Lake” and “Sleeping Beauty”, it was all written by Tchaikovsky.
In 1966, Yuri Grigorovich created a symphony ballet version of the Nutcracker. This version has been given a new meaning of “Christmas Ballet” and has achieved the success of the box office value. It emphasizes the love theme that exists in Hoffman’s original but has been played down in other ballet editions, so it was called “the adult version of the Nutcracker.”
“The Nutcracker” And Christmas:
The Nutcracker’s popularity in Europe and the United States is inseparable from the Christmas elements. Christmas, as the most solemn holiday of Christianity, has been widely accepted as a public holiday of the year by European and American societies and families. It is also an important moment for European and American families to gather together.
Although the United States is not the birthplace of the “Nutcracker” and is not the first place outside of Russia to perform the show, it is the “Nutcracker” officially became a “Christmas ballet” treasure place.
The 1940 Disney cartoon “Fantasia” promoted the popularity of the “The Nutcracker Suite” in the United States. The “The Nutcracker” in “Fantasia” does not follow the sequence and sequence of the original but uses changes in the four seasons. It combines beautiful scenes with melodious music, for the prosperity of the later ballet “The Nutcracker” in the United States, has played a role in fueling.
“The Nutcracker And” Dress:
The retro, warm and dreamy “The Nutcracker” is not as appear frequent as Snow White, Alice, and Little Red Riding Hood, but it is also an indispensable important theme in dress design.
The dance shoes stepped on the hard walnut shards and awakened from the suddenly stop dream. The aroma of almonds slowly ferments. The handsome young boy bends slightly stoop to you:”Please, be my queen” There are four kinds of colors: navy blue, red, green and ivory.
