The classic Nutcracker tale has reached the hearts of children through Christmas magic, sweets and songs. Barbie enchanted children with her Nutcracker movie in 2001, and this year “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” came out Nov. 2, putting a new Disney spin on the old classic. The first time Disney explored The Nutcracker was in a segment of “Fantasia” from 1940. This segment animates the music from Tchaikovsky with beautiful, glittering nature fairies who are decorating their world.
“The Nutcracker” was a ballet originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with music was written by Tchaikovsky, and it premiered in Saint Petersburg, Russia in December of 1892.
The original show was unsuccessful, but a small portion of it was saved and became very popular in the 1960s. This ballet is primarily performed during Christmas and is a favorite for this time of year.
Tchaikovsky was commissioned to write “The Nutcracker” after his success of with “The Sleeping Beauty.” Petipa, the choreographer, was the one who chose to adapt a story called “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” for them to convert into a two-act ballet. After the premiere, the ballet received a conflicted mess of critiques with some hating the work completely and others finding the ballet charming and eloquent. Several choreographers took inspiration from the play and created their own editions while others stuck to the original.
In 1954 The New York City Ballet gave their first annual performance of “The Nutcracker” and the tradition of performing the ballet quickly spread to the rest of the United States.
The play follows Clara and the Nutcracker Prince as they get transported to a different world on Christmas Eve. They have to battle the Mouse King and the Nutcracker becomes a handsome prince, and he leads Clara to the Land of Sweets where they meet the Sugar Plum Fairy.
In anticipation for the coming frosty, sugar plum weather, the Rozsa Center is bringing The Minnesota Ballet and the magic of The Nutcracker to Michigan Tech.
The Minnesota Ballet is a company in the Midwest which performs and teaches dance around the region. Donna Harkins was a ballet teacher who choreographed and produced a performance for her senior dance students in 1965 which was the beginning of the company. They first performed “The Nutcracker Suite” alongside “Hansel and Gretel” in December of 1966.
Clearly, they have plenty of experience touring and dancing around the Midwest and are sure to bring this elegant dance home to us.
“The Nutcracker” will have one showing on Friday, Nov. 30 at 7:30 p.m. The performance will be held in the Rozsa Center and the cost of admission is $28 for adults, $12 for youth, and free for students with the Experience Tech Fee.
*Note: This article ran 11/29/2018
