When was nutcracker choreographed

Since premiering in western countries in the s, this ballet has become perhaps the most popular to be performed around Christmas time. The suite became instantly popular; however the complete ballet did not achieve its great popularity as a Christmas performance event until almost years later. Performance History and the St. December 6] , at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St.

Petersburg, Russia. The Christmas-tree grows enormously in size. Dolls and soldiers join in battle with the mice, who overwhelm the soldiers.

Then the Nutcracker summons his old guard, and fights the King of the Mice. Just as it appears that the Nutcracker is about to be overwhelmed, Clara throws her slipper at the King of the Mice, and kills him. The Nutcracker is transformed into a handsome Prince, and he offers Clara a journey to his kingdom. The room is transformed into a pine forest Scene 2 , and the night sky clears to reveal a host of stars. Clara and the Prince are guided through the forest by gnomes with torches.

Snowflakes fall and they are met by the King and Queen, who join their subjects in a swirling waltz. Act II. In the palace of the Kingdom of Sweets Confiturenburg , the Sugar Plum fairy appears to welcome the travellers to the delights of her kingdom. Beside a river of rose water, Clara and the Prince appear and are welcomed in the Great Hall of the palace. The Prince is greeted by his sisters, and tells how Clara saved his life. She is thanked profusely.

The company settle dawn to a splendid banquet and divertissement. Dances from Spain, Arabia, China and Russia are followed by a shepherds' pastoral dance, using toy flutes. Then the old-woman-who-lived-in-a-shoe dances with all her children and a group of clowns.

The entire court joins in the final waltz, and the curtain falls on a final tribute to Clara [8]. The ballet was commissioned by the Director of the Russian Imperial Theatres, Ivan Vsevolozhsky , who held preliminary talks with the composer in November and December [9]. According to Modest Tchaikovsky , the composer was "very little pleased by the subject of The Nutcracker " [12] , more precisely with the nature of the ballet's scenario, since E.

Hoffmann 's fairy tale, upon which it was based, had long ranked high in the composer's estimation, and was the reason for his agreeing to write the ballet The Nutcracker. I know that it is unappealing to you. You are an exceptionally kind soul for not refusing me" [13]. It is not possible to establish the exact date on which work on the sketches was begun. I want to pass on to you some ideas for the ballet, which do not fit in with Petipa 's scheme.

He is what the French call vieu jeu [16]. All the solos and variations he devised for the first act, would be of little interest to the public.

You need now only to compose great dances, and not for dancers, and all those variations The arrangement of the sketches allows us to infer the order in which the music was written—the composer adhered to the essence Marius Petipa 's plan, indicating any deviations from it in his notebook.

Bon voyage, M. Dumolet", the latter being the title of a humorous 18th century French song, subsequently used in the music for this number.

But the composer did not write the music for this scene straight away, noting down only a few sketches eventually used for the gallop, beside the note: "This is the start of the coda, composed during a stroll in Piter [Petersburg]". Omitting the Grossvater , Tchaikovsky wrote in his sketch book: "Talk to Petipa regarding the Grossvater, how many times it should be repeated, and whether it should be varied, and have Jurgenson obtain the [musical] notes".

The ballet remained absent for at five years before it was revived in by Ivanov. After its revival, The Nutcracker remained in the Imperial Ballet repertoire and was performed for the final time in Russia on the 25th October The Nutcracker was notated in the Stepanov notation method in , while the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy was danced by Olga Preobrazhenskaya, and is part of the Sergeyev Collection.

The Nutcracker in 20th century Russia Throughout the 20th century, The Nutcracker went through countless revivals and restagings in the hands of various choreographers. Gorsky made Clara and the Nutcracker-Prince roles for adults rather than children and introduced a definitive romantic relationship between the two characters.

The Nutcracker in the West One of the earliest productions of The Nutcracker in the west was staged by Anna Pavlova in when she presented a new ballet for her company called Snowflakes, which was based on the snowy forest scene and choreographed by Ivan Clustine.

For this ballet, Pavlova utilised various music excerpts from the full length score, including The Journey through the Pine Forest and the Waltz of the Snowflakes. This seems to have been the first production to use the music for The Journey as a pas de deux, as Pavlova utilised it as a pas de deux for a Snow King and a Snow Queen.

She also used children in her new little ballet as a corps de ballet of snowflakes, while the roles of the Snow Queen and the Snow King were danced by Pavlova and Laurent Novikov. The Nutcracker was staged in more revivals in the west and finally, it began to enjoy popularity when George Balanchine choreographed his version for the New York City Ballet in Balanchine was very familiar with The Nutcracker and the Imperial Ballet production, having danced in it when he was a student at the Imperial Ballet School; he had danced the role of the Nutcracker-Prince when he was 15 years old.

He also changed the ending by having Marie Clara and the Nutcracker leave the Land of Sweets and returning home in a sleigh pulled by a flying reindeer. The production was a huge success and from then on, The Nutcracker became increasingly popular with ballet audiences.

In , Wright staged a new production for the Birmingham Royal Ballet that differed quite vastly from his production. He later revived his Royal Ballet production in , in which he included features from his production.

The Nutcracker has come a long way since its ill start in and today, it is perhaps the most popular ballet in the world, with many marking it as a perfect Christmas treat. The idea for this waltz came from The Daughter of the Snows, which had featured a dance number entitled Dance of the Snowflakes. The original Waltz of the Snowflakes was performed by over fifty dancers and includes special group patterns that form the effects of a snow fall, which escalates into a blizzard.

When the blizzard has passed, the dancers form a tableau vivant at the end, which closes both the dance and the first act. The ballet critic, Skalkovsky wrote the following statement about the Waltz of the Snowflakes in the original production:.

He accepted the challenge, and the result is the Grand Adage from the Grand Pas de Deux , one of the most famous ballet duets of all time — played as Clara dances with her adored Nutcracker Prince during the second act of the ballet. The Nutcracker was performed exclusively in Russia, and then throughout Europe, for the first several decades. The ballet was largely performed by children, which elicited continuous criticism from the audience. Choreography is often altered or re-envisioned to create a fresh perspective.

In Russia, Europe, and the U. That is the most wonderful thing of all about music, dance, and the performing arts. While we respect and honor the standards, we also have the ability to infuse them with personal interpretations, influences, and stories to love them as our own.