# The Nutcracker



## Couchie

A ballet that I have seen.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

Couchie said:


> A ballet that I have seen.


Who performed? Where was it? How did you like it?


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## neoshredder

Listening to the Nutcracker is like indulging in a ice cream sundae.


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## Ingélou

And my favourite flavour of ice-cream is .... *Chinese*.


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## Taggart

neoshredder said:


> Listening to the Nutcracker is like indulging in a ice cream sundae.


More like Christmas treats. It's generally seen in the UK as something slightly more upmarket than panto for the Christmas season.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

Taggart said:


> More like Christmas treats. It's generally seen in the UK as something slightly more upmarket than panto for the Christmas season.


Ice cream sundae is perfect for Christmas in Australia......


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## Couchie

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Who performed? Where was it? How did you like it?


Alberta Ballet / Calgary / It was OK.


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## Celloman

Ballet is the only art form (as far as I can think of) that's completely dominated by a single work. That's the Nutcracker. It's not even my favorite of Tchaikovsky's ballets...I prefer Swan Lake, actually. Not to mention all the other great ballets out there.

Is the Nutcracker overrated? You bet.


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## PetrB

Couchie said:


> Alberta Ballet / Calgary / It was OK.


Aw, c'mon, didn't you feel a bit regressed into childhood -- not out of sentiment -- due to the nature of the story, i.e. kids, Christmas, phantasms imagined coming to life?

Or are you the one who does not get why people move around and wave their limbs so to music?


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## Ingélou

Surely ballet *isn't* dominated by a single work? If you asked someone in the street to name a ballet, as many people would name Swan Lake as Nutcracker? And people might also know The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Coppélia - though my computer spell check doesn't; it thinks I mean 'copperplate'!


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## TudorMihai

I like The Nutcracker but it's not in my list of favorite ballets. My favorite ballet from Tchaikovsky is The Sleeping Beauty. I like how The Nutcracker Suite works in the film Fantasia though.


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## PetrB

Ingenue said:


> Surely ballet *isn't* dominated by a single work? If you asked someone in the street to name a ballet, as many people would name Swan Lake as Nutcracker? And people might also know The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Coppélia - though my computer spell check doesn't; it thinks I mean 'copperplate'!


Les Sylphides / Romeo and Juliet (Prokofiev) are also staples even those who just occasionally go to the ballet know of.


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## Itullian

I think it's one of the greatest works ever written.


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## sharik

depends on which company performing it.


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## katdad

You all know that the Nutcracker is universally the most hated by dancers?

Two reasons: 1- the wooden prince, who, like most male roles in a classic ballet, is used mainly as a prop to hold up or lift the female, but in Nutcracker it's worse than most. 2- it's performed to absolute death. Almost every ballet company uses Nutcracker for their Christmas program to raise funds, which generally constitute over 1/2 of the operating budget of an entire season. It's popular because of the costumes and cute animal dances and variation of the celebration (which is about 85% of the ballet anyway) but it becomes old quickly.

The only equivalent is where classical choral groups perform Messiah either Christmas or Easter (I've sung in Messiah about 20 times) but at least the music is immortal, whereas Nutcracker isn't Tchaikovsky's best by a long shot.


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## sharik

katdad said:


> Nutcracker isn't Tchaikovsky's best by a long shot.


best or not but it's immortal too, as time has shown.


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## Pyotr

Nothing gets me in the Christmas spirit like the Nutcracker! Favorite numbers are Arabian Coffee and the Final Waltz /Apotheosis.


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## moody

katdad said:


> You all know that the Nutcracker is universally the most hated by dancers?
> 
> Two reasons: 1- the wooden prince, who, like most male roles in a classic ballet, is used mainly as a prop to hold up or lift the female, but in Nutcracker it's worse than most. 2- it's performed to absolute death. Almost every ballet company uses Nutcracker for their Christmas program to raise funds, which generally constitute over 1/2 of the operating budget of an entire season. It's popular because of the costumes and cute animal dances and variation of the celebration (which is about 85% of the ballet anyway) but it becomes old quickly.
> 
> The only equivalent is where classical choral groups perform Messiah either Christmas or Easter (I've sung in Messiah about 20 times) but at least the music is immortal, whereas Nutcracker isn't Tchaikovsky's best by a long shot.


A bit of a wet blanket...well I think it's a marvellous work and marvellous music---particularly the Antal Dorati recording.


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## Celloman

Also, the fact that it's holiday-related adds to its popular appeal. I think that ballet is the only art form that is virtually dominated by a single work. Everyone has seen the Nutcracker at some point, but if you ask them if they've seen any other ballets, they'll shake their heads.


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## Op.123

I was watching the nutcracker the other night and liked the music. But, the rest was just awful.


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## Tristan

I listened to the Nutcracker before I saw it in performance. I'll admit to regularly seeing it around Christmas-time with my family (Tomasson's production at the SF ballet). I know that it gets performed to death around that time and Tchaikovsky himself didn't like it much. But this I agree with:



Itullian said:


> I think it's one of the greatest works ever written.


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## neoshredder

Burroughs said:


> I was watching the nutcracker the other night and liked the music. But, the rest was just awful.


Yep the Nutcracker is best enjoyed for me by listening in a dark room. No performance please.


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## moody

neoshredder said:


> Yep the Nutcracker is best enjoyed for me by listening in a dark room. No performance please.


It depends on the production because it is a ballet after all.


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## Itullian

I saw the Joffrey Ballet do it a few years ago and it was so beautiful 
it brought tears to my eyes.


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## mstar

The Nutcracker: great ballet, though definitely not the best. 

I once saw a Russian ballet perform it... I was young then, but it was great, as I still recall. 

I couldn't sleep for six nights soon afterwards.... The music wouldn't get out of my head!!! 

Still.... The best ballet, in my opinion, is The Sleeping Beauty. It combines all the elements necessary to have a wonderful ballet: beautiful music, wonderful choreography, and a great story. The Nutcracker seems to me to lack in the "great story" aspect, and I tend to focus more on the music than on the dancing itself when I do see it.... 

Just my opinion!


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## contra7

I had The Nutcracker cartoon when I was a kid and Pas De Deux at the end always made me cry.
Does anyone share similar experience?

Edit: Thank you Tchaikovsky for this beautiful music you gave us!!!


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## Pyotr

Burroughs said:


> I was watching the nutcracker the other night and liked the music. But, the rest was just awful.


It is a Christmas show. Should only be enjoyed during the holiday season.


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## LouisMasterMusic

Yeah, and nothing does The Nutcracker for me except that masterly suite that Tchaikovsky compiled. Simple reason; no toy instruments!


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## mmsbls

Almost my only experience with classical music when I was young was going to the Nutcracker in Lincoln Center (New York). We went perhaps 5-6 times. I have not seen the Nutcracker live in decades, but I have seen several versions on DVD. I don't know if it's my favorite ballet, but I think the music is truly beautiful, and I still find the story fun and moving. For me, the dancing, while enjoyable, is not as interesting as other ballets.


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## PetrB

neoshredder said:


> Yep the Nutcracker is best enjoyed for me by listening in a dark room. No performance please.


The complete opposite for me -- bearable if being watched, and in a good production, unbearable as a piece(s) of music.


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## BurningDesire

Ingenue said:


> And my favourite flavour of ice-cream is .... *Chinese*.


Seeing that dance performed live nowadays is pretty uncomfortable


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## BurningDesire

Burroughs said:


> I was watching the nutcracker the other night and liked the music. But, the rest was just awful.


Whats awful about it? Some of it is kinda lame (depending on the choreographer), and some parts are a bit uncomfortable... but what about those great solo dances, or the pas de deux?


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## Itullian

BurningDesire said:


> Seeing that dance performed live nowadays is pretty uncomfortable


how come?
it looks really charming to me.


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## mstar

I've seen it so many times, it's lost it's charm.... Unless, of course, I listen to the music alone.... Tchaikovsky's charm is not only eminent, but most _definitely_ timeless, boundless.... So long as it's there in the first place.... *cough* _1812 Overture_ *cough* Anyway.... the music is great. The ballet, not so much. Marius Petipa did not work as much on the choreography, etc. as he had on the other to ballets, as I recall? Petipa was excellent....


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## sharik

mstar said:


> the music is great. The ballet, not so much. Marius Petipa did not work as much on the choreography


how do you know? what do you know on choreography at all? Petipa did always work 'as much' every occasion.

you may not like his, but there are lots of alternative versions of this ballet -


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## mstar

sharik said:


> how do you know? what do you know on choreography at all? Petipa did always work 'as much' every occasion.
> 
> you may not like his, but there are lots of alternative versions of this ballet -


Oh, I am not saying that he did not put in effort! I believe that I read somewhere that he left most of the ballet to be choreographed by Lev Ivanov or somebody else....


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## sharik

mstar said:


> he left most of the ballet to be choreographed by Lev Ivanov


yes he did but Lev Ivanov was his assistant. Lev Ivanov = Petipa.


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## mstar

sharik said:


> yes he did but Lev Ivanov was his assistant. Lev Ivanov = Petipa.


Yes, but I think that, at the time, Petipa had more experience. I'm sure that previously under the "mentorship" of Petipa, Ivanov became great as well.  
I personally feel that the story of the Nutcracker which was used was so greatly simplified that it lost its original deep/evasive meaning.... I believe the story was originally German. Just opinion, though!


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## hreichgott

BurningDesire said:


> Seeing that dance performed live nowadays is pretty uncomfortable


I agree, except for the San Francisco Ballet's version, appropriate for the city with a Chinese population that has been there almost as long as the city itself. They have a giant multi person dragon puppet like in the Chinese New Year parades, and the soloist choreography is a fabulous takeoff on Jackie Chan movies. No braided ponytails, straw hats or raised index fingers.

(Wish I could find a video but I think they police YouTube pretty carefully)


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## sharik

sharik said:


> depends on which company performing it.


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## Animato

The Nutcracker may not be the best ballet as far as the drama/story is concerned: it’s just a children’s tale without real “tragedy”. Nevertheless I think the score contains some of the best music for orchestra ever written. Please do not refer only to the suite of the nutcracker. You really have to listen to the whole work! The part after the battle of the tin-soldiers with the rats is overwhelming! It is amazing that every conductor is creating different kind of crescendo or dramatic phrases. 
The instrumentation of the Nutcracker is one of the most original ever written. Tshaikovsky really knows the character of every instrument and combines them for the most beautiful orchestral sounds I know.


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## trazom

I think I've found my favorite scene from this ballet:


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## Svelte Silhouette

Mackerras LSO on Telarc for me


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## JCarmel

Thank you for posting that clip, trazom...I couldn't find a youtube link that I liked-enough last week to post.
It's Tchaikovsky at his 'ecstatic' best!


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## Zhdanov

sharik said:


> depends on which company performing it.


the Mariinsky 2012 -


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## Dimace

Zhdanov said:


> the Mariinsky 2012 -


*Beautiful beyond words!* The whole Russian ballet tradition in one video clip!


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## DavidA

I saw a production from the Royal Ballet in a broadcast to cinemas. Not being at all acquainted with ballet I was astonished how much I enjoyed it.


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## jegreenwood

Taking various family members next Sunday (NYCB Balanchine).


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## jegreenwood

jegreenwood said:


> Taking various family members next Sunday (NYCB Balanchine).


Nutcracker this afternoon with several family members including two grandnieces, 4 and 6. It's quite different watching a ballet with a first timer who was a little scared of the dark (loved the mice though), and a second timer who insisted on waving her arms to the music. (Sometimes last row can be a good thing.) In the end both girls liked it. Me - whenever I had the chance to watch the stage.


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## DavidA

Just watched this and it takes your breath away. And I don't understand ballet! But I do understand sheer beauty of movement when I see it.

Give yourself a treat this Christmas by watching it. Astounding!


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## Flyer75

I took my wife last week to the Schuster Center in Dayton, OH for a live orchestral performance of the ballet. The Dayton ballet performed on stage. We were blown away. We are very new to the "arts" and really really enjoyed it and look forward to more plays, ballets and live orchestral performances.

Hope I used the right terms there...I am brand new to classical music, ect but trying to learn all I can.


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## sharkeysnight

Just saw the National Ballet of Canada's production here in Toronto. It was designed by Santo Loquasto, who was apparently under some kind of Brewster's Millions contract. It was oddly unfocused - I didn't look into the program until I was on the streetcar home, and the synopsis has all kinds of things about distant parents and growing out of childhood, which didn't really come through for me in the choreography. Part of this is that the stage is constantly so crowded that it was occasionally hard to keep track of who was where and what was going on, but also just a general lack of throughline. The second act has a plot of a grand dinner being prepared for the children (a brother and sister go on the adventure together), but we still get the chocolate and coffee dances, and the dinner culminates in a clumsily staged food fight. It's a weird mix.

Maybe it was an off night, but it also felt like the dancing was a little imprecise. I've heard that this is a notorious production for slipping and injuries due to the hard floors (to accomodate the heavy sets), so maybe that has something to do with it.

The music was terrific. You can listen to it too many times and get tired of it, but it really is a miraculous score.


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## RockyIII

My favorite Nutcracker on CD:
View attachment 112329


My favorite Nutcracker on DVD:
View attachment 112330


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## Marsilius

For the best on DVD, I'd nominate the San Francisco production - it has the most amazing snowflakes scene.


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## jegreenwood

Marsilius said:


> For the best on DVD, I'd nominate the San Francisco production - it has the most amazing snowflakes scene.
> View attachment 112341


My favorite snowflakes.


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## Marsilius

Here's the rather more traditionally conceived San Francisco snowflakes scene to which I referred. By the very end it is visually quite stunning...


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## Clouds Weep Snowflakes

One of my favorites pieces of Classical music ever, and "The Nutcracker And The Four Realms" was one heck of a movie! An outstanding composition for my favorite time of the year!


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## RockyIII

Clouds Weep Snowflakes said:


> One of my favorites pieces of Classical music ever, and "The Nutcracker And The Four Realms" was one heck of a movie! An outstanding composition for my favorite time of the year!


It was quite different from what I expected, but I enjoyed it immensely.


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## RockyIII

Unfortunately, I get the following error when I try to view some of the videos posted here:

Video unavailable
The uploader has not made this video available in your country.


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## Clouds Weep Snowflakes

Any art based on the music people?







I sometimes find looking at pictures related to the music helpful to "dive" into it.


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## Open Book

Wow, almost Christmas and no posts about the Nutcracker since June?

I own a DVD of "Nutcracker: The Motion Picture" - not a great name for it. It's from the mid 80's, Pacific Northwest Ballet Company. I adore everything about it, the principal dancers, the company, atmospheric costumes and sets, the way it is shot, and that it dares to go into some rather dark places -- not a childish Nutcracker. I think dancers today are more athletic, but this remains impressive. It's mesmerizing.

The music is wonderfully performed by the London Symphony conducted by Charles Mackerras.
Even the acting is good, which closeups give you a chance to appreciate -- the dancer who portrayed the caged peacock is haunting.


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## SixFootScowl

Just saw my first Nutcracker live yesterday. Here are highlights. Wonderful music and performance.
https://www.macombballet.org/the-nutcracker


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## Woodduck

Open Book said:


> Wow, almost Christmas and no posts about the Nutcracker since June?
> 
> I own a DVD of "Nutcracker: The Motion Picture" - not a great name for it. It's from the mid 80's, Pacific Northwest Ballet Company. I adore everything about it, the principal dancers, the company, atmospheric costumes and sets, the way it is shot, and that it dares to go into some rather dark places -- not a childish Nutcracker. I think dancers today are more athletic, but this remains impressive. It's mesmerizing.
> 
> The music is wonderfully performed by the London Symphony conducted by Charles Mackerras.
> Even the acting is good, which closeups give you a chance to appreciate -- the dancer who portrayed the caged peacock is haunting.


I was a piano accompanist with the school of Pacific Northwest Ballet at that time and so was able to attend those performances of _Nutcracker._ The delightful sets were created by Maurice Sendak, author and illustrator of "Where the Wild Things Are." Sensak designed quite a number of ballet and opera productions. His _Nutcracker_ was definitely not all lollipops and candy canes!


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## Pyotr

*Marie or Clara?*

I often wondered why the main character in the tale was named Marie sometimes (like the Balanchine version) and Clara others (like in the original Tchaikovsky/Petipa version). I did some googling and think I found the answer.
The original libretto is based upon Alexandre Dumas adaptation of E. T. A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King." Apparently Dumas took out some darker elements and in his story the girl was named Clara. But in E. T. A. Hoffmann's story she is named Marie.


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## Open Book

Woodduck said:


> I was a piano accompanist with the school of Pacific Northwest Ballet at that time and so was able to attend those performances of _Nutcracker._ The delightful sets were created by Maurice Sendak, author and illustrator of "Where the Wild Things Are." Sensak designed quite a number of ballet and opera productions. His _Nutcracker_ was definitely not all lollipops and candy canes!


So you accompanied rehearsals of this production? That's great, you probably got to see it germinate and maybe had a little influence on it. What's it like being an accompanist?

I didn't remember that Sendak did the sets, I'm not much familiar with children's books but I'm aware that he is a great illustrator of such.

Who actually interprets the story for the production and decides how it's going to go scene by scene, I guess it's like opera where there is a director who comes up with the overall conception? And I imagine a DVD has different requirements than a live performance. This DVD doesn't have a live feel to it.


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## Woodduck

Open Book said:


> So you accompanied rehearsals of this production? That's great, you probably got to see it germinate and maybe had a little influence on it. What's it like being an accompanist?
> 
> I didn't remember that Sendak did the sets, I'm not much familiar with children's books but I'm aware that he is a great illustrator of such.
> 
> Who actually interprets the story for the production and decides how it's going to go scene by scene, I guess it's like opera where there is a director who comes up with the overall conception? And I imagine a DVD has different requirements than a live performance. This DVD doesn't have a live feel to it.


I wasn't a rehearsal pianist, but rather a school (class) pianist, so I didn't participate in preparing the production. I did get to watch dancers preparing their roles in the studios, and got tickets to all the performances I wanted to attend. It was a wonderful experience to have it all happening around me, and of course I was there for other ballets as well.

I believe the production was created and directed by the choreographers, Kent Stowell and Francia Russell, who were also the directors of the company and school. I don't know how the DVD was made.


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## jegreenwood

Pyotr said:


> I often wondered why the main character in the tale was named Marie sometimes (like the Balanchine version) and Clara others (like in the original Tchaikovsky/Petipa version). I did some googling and think I found the answer.
> The original libretto is based upon Alexandre Dumas adaptation of E. T. A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King." Apparently Dumas took out some darker elements and in his story the girl was named Clara. But in E. T. A. Hoffmann's story she is named Marie.


Mark Morris's "The Hard Nut" reincorporates the Hoffmann material.


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## Woodduck

jegreenwood said:


> Mark Morris's "The Hard Nut" reincorporates the Hoffmann material.


Morris's title sounds like testicular cancer. Actually I would have preferred that to his choreography.


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## Open Book

Woodduck said:


> Morris's title sounds like testicular cancer. Actually I would have preferred that to his choreography.


Do you feel that way about Morris's choreography in general or just that of "The Hard Nut"?


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## Woodduck

Open Book said:


> Do you feel that way about Morris's choreography in general or just that of "The Hard Nut"?


I haven't seen much of it, so I can't comment further.


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## Marsilius

There are at least two DVD/Blu-rays of modern balletic adaptations of the original E.T.A. Hoffmann story _The nutcracker and the mouse king_. They are extremely different from each other.

The first comes from Dutch National Ballet: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2013/Nov13/Tchaikovsky_nutcracker_108087.htm

The second comes from Ballett Zürich: http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2019/Dec/Tchaikovsky_nutcracker_ACC20449.htm


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## DavidA

I watched 'Dancing the Nutcracker' on BBC this Christmas and as one who knows nothing about ballet thoroughly enjoyed seeing how a production is put together. It made me watch this Russian performance once more. I know it's already been posted by me and others but it really is astounding! And I know nothing about ballet!






One curiosity - conductor Gergiev has a good growth of stubble on his chin throughout the performance but at his curtain call he appears clean shaven! Was there a demon barber on hand to give him a lightening shave?


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## Rogerx

DavidA said:


> I watched 'Dancing the Nutcracker' on BBC this Christmas and as one who knows nothing about ballet thoroughly enjoyed seeing how a production is put together. It made me watch this Russian performance once more. I know it's already been posted by me and others but it really is astounding! And I know nothing about ballet!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> One curiosity - conductor Gergiev has a good growth of stubble on his chin throughout the performance but at his curtain call he appears clean shaven! Was there a demon barber on hand to give him a lightening shave?


I've seen is since, my goodness what a dancing .


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