ballet frontier of texas & imagination fort worth...

Ballet Frontier of Texas & Imagination Fort Worth

Act II of The Nutcracker



Ballet Frontier's The Nutcracker School Show features an abridged

version of the original Nutcracker production. A guest moderator will

welcome the audience, outline the story and educate students about

dance training and production design.

One exciting aspect of The Nutcracker School Show is the extensive

participation of pre-professionally trained youth dancers in the

production. Students will get to see peers of all ages on stage and the results of committed training and discipline.

Visit Ballet Frontier of Texas’ Website: http://www.balletfrontier.org/

http://www.balletfrontier.org/

http://www.balletfrontier.org/



Tips for watching ballet from Ballet Frontier of Texas:

• When the lights dim it is time for the performance to start

• Talking is distracting so please stay quiet during the performance

• Please remain in your seat during the show

• Follow the directions of the staff when entering & exiting

• Feel free to clap during appropriate times



Helpful Ballet Vocabulary: Ballet – a form of theatrical dance that uses particular movements

and poses. No words are spoken. The story is told through music

and movement.

Ballerina – a female ballet dancer. This term once referred to the

star female dancer; now it means any female ballet dancer.

Corps de Ballet – ballet dancers who perform as a group. In The Nutcracker, the

Waltz of the Flowers is performed by the corps de ballet.

Danseur – a male ballet dancer.

Divertissement – a dance or series of dances which show a dancer’s skill. In The

Nutcracker, the “country” dances of Act II (Spanish, Arabian, Chinese, Russian,

Marzipan, Mother Ginger) are divertissement.

On-Pointe – when a ballerina stands on the tips of her toe or pointe shoes, she is

said to be “on pointe”.



Helpful Ballet Vocabulary:

Pas de deux – a ballet dance for a couple. The Sugar Plum Fairy and the

Nutcracker Prince perform a pas de deux near the end of Act II in The

Nutcracker.

Pirouette – ballet turn in which the dancer turns around completely on one foot.

Pointe shoes – also called toe shoes. Special ballet shoes worn by ballerinas to

allow them to dance on the points of their toes.

Student dancers should not wear pointe shoes

until age 10 or 11.

Port de bras – the arm movements of ballet.

Literally it means the carriage of the arms.

Tutu – a ballerina’s skirt, made of several

layers of fine net-like fabric called tulle

(pronounced tool).



The History of the Nutcracker : The Nutcracker is a fairy tale ballet in two

acts centered on a family’s Christmas Eve

celebration. It is Alexandre Dumas’

adaptation of the story by E.T.A. Hoffmann.

It was first set to music by Tchaikovsky and originally choreographed by Petipa &

Ivanov. The Nutcracker was commissioned

by the director of Moscow’s Imperial

Theatres, Ivan Vsevolozhsky, in 1891, and premiered a week before Christmas 1892.

The Nutcracker ballet tells the story of a

young girl named Clara and her

mischievous brother Fritz at the family

Christmas celebration.



The History of the Nutcracker : Their Uncle arrives with gifts including a

magnificent nutcracker for Clara. Fritz is

jealous and breaks it. Clara is heartbroken,

but her Uncle repairs her treasure and the

party continues.

When everyone has gone to sleep, Clara’s

magical adventure begins. Clara’s journey

takes her to the Land of Snow, where she is

welcomed by snowflakes. The Nutcracker Prince escorts Clara to the land of Sweets

where she is greeted by the Sugar Plum

Fairy. She and the Nutcracker are then

treated to spectacular cultural dances. To

conclude the performance there is one

final dance before Clara goes back home.



The History of the Nutcracker : E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776-1822) (Ernst Theodor

Amadeus Hoffmann), was a German

Romantic author of fantasy and horror. He

was also a jurist, composer, music critic, draftsman and caricaturist. He is the author of

the novella “The Nutcracker and the Mouse

King,” on which the famous ballet The

Nutcracker is based.

Inanimate objects come to life in many of

Hoffmann's stories. He was a champion of the

imagination run wild. The French writer

Alexandre Dumas adapted Hoffmann's story “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” about

a little girl, Marie, and her Christmas toys, into

the more familiar story we see preformed

today.



The History of the Nutcracker : In the original version, Marie worries about a

beautiful nutcracker that's been broken. At night,

she goes to check on it. To her surprise, it has

come alive, and a story-within-the-story begins: armies of mice and toy soldiers battle in what is

either the child's delirious nightmare, or, perhaps

another reality into which she wanders.

Alexandre Dumas altered that original version,

making it lighter and less scary. Marie became

Clara and her flights of imagination became

sweeter and more tame. In 1892 a team of

Russians turned Dumas' version into a ballet. The

Nutcracker did not enjoy great success at first, but

the music by Tchaikovsky eventually did. And

staging it has become a Christmas-season ritual.



Tchaikovsky and His Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in Russia on

May 7, 1840. He was a bright child who could

read Russian, French and German at the age

of 6. He began taking piano lessons when he

was 7 years old. He showed an ultra-sensitivity

to music and had a delicate musical ear.

In 1850, his well-to-do middle-class family

moved to St. Petersburg where he attended

school. He was mildly interested in music and at age 14 began attempting composition. At

age 21 he began to study music seriously. In

1866 he moved to Moscow to be a harmony

teacher for the Moscow Conservatory. He led

a quiet life there, teaching, composing and

making friends.

Listen to his music for The

Nutcracker here:

http://grooveshark.com/

#!/album/Nutcracker+Suit

e/277854

http://grooveshark.com/#!/album/Nutcracker+Suite/277854






Tchaikovsky and His Music: In 1877, a wealthy widow started to subsidize Tchaikovsky. However,

there was one strange condition to the widow's financial support—that

they were never to meet. With this financial independence, he was able

to resign from the Conservatory in 1878.

Tchaikovsky first began composing music for

ballet in the mid- to late-1800s. At the time,

ballet music was considered unimaginative;

the music world was astonished that such a

great composer would "stoop so low."

Tchaikovsky accepted The Nutcracker commission from the director of Moscow’s

Imperial Theatres in 1891. He went on to

compose two other full-length ballets that

would become enduring masterworks of the

genre: Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty.



Choreography of The Nutcracker: Choreography is the art of creating and arranging dances. The word

derives from the Greek for “dance” and for “write.” Choreographers

create the sequence of steps that make up a dance performance.

These can be short, such as dances you may see on TV commercials, or hours long such as full length ballets.

The Nutcracker choreography was begun by the

famed Marius Petipa, but when Petipa fell ill the

work was taken up by his assistant Ivanov.

According to historical accounts, Petipa refused to have his name linked with it, feeling his own

part in its creation was insufficient. Dance

historians have recognized his contribution,

and the choreography is generally credited to

both Petipa and Ivanov.



Choreography of The Nutcracker: Marius Petipa was born in France in 1822. His

father was a dancer, choreographer and

teacher and brought him up to do the same.

After years of travelling the world as a dancer,

he moved to Russia in 1847.

When Petipa turned 40 in 1858, choreography

was a logical alternative to dancing. Petipa’s

style called for massive, luxurious productions.

Inevitably, with such a long career (56 years at one company), fashion turned against Petipa.

Although officially titled ‘ballet master for life,’

he retired in 1903 after unfavorable reviews.

Due to ill health, he moved to southern Russia in

1907 where he lived until dying on July 14,

1910.

Watch Petipa’s work:

http://www.youtube.co

m/watch?v=9S3Du31Au4

c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9S3Du31Au4c






Choreography of The Nutcracker: Lev Ivanov was born in Moscow in 1834. At ten years old he was enrolled

at the Imperial School of Ballet, where he was a pupil of Marius Petipa’s

father, Jean Petipa. Ivanov eventually rose to the rank of principal

dancer. In 1885 he was appointed second ballet master, the assistant to

Marius Petipa.

His choreography was always in the shadow of Petipa, as he was a

Russian at a time when Russian ballet paid greater respect to foreigners.

His most famous contributions to ballet are The Nutcracker and the

'white' acts of Swan Lake. He died in St. Petersburg in 1901.

Watch a preview of Swan Lake:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oF1IKqozs0I





Russia in the 1890’s: Czar Alexander III led Russia at the time of the

commissioning of The Nutcracker. He was a physical,

imposing ruler whose style of ruling was designed to

bolster Russian nationalism. His reign saw the rapid

industrialization of Russia.

In 1894, upon the death of Alexander III, his son Nicholas II ascended to the throne. Nicholas was gentle and

approachable. However, he could be weak and

inconsistent. His personality made him unsuited to deal

with Russia’s serious political problems.



Russia in the 1890’s: Nicholas II’s failure to consider reform led to

political opposition. The growth of the working

class saw the development of socialism. In

1898, the Russian Social and Democratic

Labor party was formed. The party followed

the ideas of Karl Marx and called for an end to the Czarist state. In 1901, the Social

Revolutionary Party was formed. It drew its

support from the peasantry. They advocated

for land reform and many of its members favored direct action or the use of

violence. A revolution was sparked and

Nicholas II’s handling of domestic disruptions

and World War I incensed his subjects and

led to his abdication. The Bolsheviks

executed the royal family on July 17, 1918.



Featured World Cultures: The part of The Nutcracker you will see features world cultures. They are

emphasized in the costumes, dance steps and body movements.

In this production, students will enjoy a colorful, multicultural celebration

of sweets from around the world: Spanish Hot Chocolate, Arabian Coffee, Chinese Tea and Russian Candy. They will also see dances by

sparkling angels and beautiful flowers, in addition to Clara and the

Sugar Plum Fairy, all choreographed to Tchaikovsky's famous

compositions.



Featured World Cultures: Spanish The chocolate dance: This dance features graceful, classical Spanish

dance with quick turning and snapping of the head at the end of a

musical phrase.

Chocolate from Spain: Why from Spain? Because Spain owned most of

South America and that is where chocolate still comes from.



Featured World Cultures: Arabian The Coffee Dance: Inspired by exotic Arabian weaving of arms and legs;

dancers incorporate slithering, snake-like partnering and distinct

Arabian angular poses of the head and arms.

Coffee was grown in Arabia, Egypt, and other countries in that area.

Although it is now grown all over the world, some people still prefer "Arabica" coffee. In the 18th and 19th centuries, people in Europe loved to fantasize about Arab sheiks and the exotic women around them.



Featured World Cultures: Chinese Tea from China: This dance often includes a traditional Chinese ribbon

dance. It can also include a Chinese dragon, a symbol of power and

royalty, carried in by the dancers.

Since tea was first discovered in China, it has traveled the world. Tea is

the most popular beverage in the world, as well as one of the healthiest. For several hundred years, people drank tea because of its herbal

medicinal qualities; later tea was used as a religious offering.



Featured World Cultures: Russia Russian Candy: This dance was inspired by intimidating Russian soldiers

from history. They perform Cossack-like dance steps including "Russian"

jumps and a low to the floor circling of one leg under the other.

The storyline Tchaikovsky was working from said that this was supposed

to be a dance of peppermint sticks or maybe of caramels. Since he was a Russian and his dancers were all Russian, he incorporated the most

wonderful, showy kind of Russian village dancing.



Nutcracker Project: Cards

Choose your favorite characters from The Nutcracker and design an original

costume for this character based on

their culture and role in the ballet.

Make at least four of these cards so that

they create the basis of a deck of

playing cards.

Who will be your King? Queen?

Joker?



Nutcracker Project: Places Represented Investigate the places represented in The Nutcracker:

Spain, China, Russia and Arabia.

Choose the location you would like to visit and create a poster showing:

• What does their alphabet look like?

• What language do they speak? • Has the location changed since The Nutcracker was first performed?

• Show a flag from one of the region’s current countries.

• What does their money look like?

• What holidays are celebrated there?



Nutcracker Project: Places Represented Investigate the places represented in The Nutcracker:

Spain, China, Russia and Arabia.

Find out all of the languages that are spoken in the regions represented

in The Nutcracker. Learn a few words from each of these regions.

Think about what languages you would like to learn?

Learn about language options at FWISD here: http://www.fwisd.org/pages/FWISD/Departments_Programs/D

epartments__L-Z_/World_Language

http://www.fwisd.org/pages/FWISD/Departments_Programs/Departments__L-Z_/World_Language







Nutcracker Project: Music Investigate the places represented in The Nutcracker:

Spain, China, Russia and Arabia. Research the music from the areas represented in the ballet.

Tchaikovsky’s music for each of these regions has distinct elements

unique to that region. Find out what instruments are unique to these

regions that helped him capture the regional sound. Find out what these instruments look and sound like. Present your findings to the class.

Here’s an example of Russian Folk music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn06W-iBfkQ






$25,000+ $10,000-$24,999

Sid W. Richardson Foundation Arts Council of Fort Worth & Tarrant County

Rosenthal Foundation Community Foundation of North Texas

William E. Scott Foundation Ellison & Edward Lasater Trust

Texas Commission for the Arts

Texas Education Agency

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

$500 - $9,999

Armstrong Foundation Arts Council of Northeast Tarrant County

Bates Container BBVA Compass Foundation

Jill Black Colonial Country Club Charity

Communities Foundation of Texas Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau

Frost Bank Mary Potishman Lard Trust

Jack Larson Mollie & Garland Lasater Trust

Rozell Sprayer Manufacturing Ryan Foundation

Sertoma Club of Downtown Fort Worth Joe P. Strain

Target Foundation Texas Association of Parents & Educators of the Deaf

Virginia Street Smith Trust Wells Fargo Foundation

ballet frontier of texas & imagination fort worth...

Documents