When “The Nutcracker” first premiered as a two-act ballet back in 1892, it didn’t exactly bring the house down.
It should have. It featured a musical charge by Tchaikovsky – writing music that would go on to become his best-known work – and a storyline that would become a staple of the Christmas season for many American families.
If only the original choreographers could see it today.
There isn’t a single theater company in any city in America considered to be mid-sized or larger that hasn’t had a Nutcracker run, and some of them – places like San Francisco – have become world famous and draw people from hundreds of miles away every year to see one of the most beautifully orchestrated ballet performances known to man.
The characters might be foreign to most people, but the music isn’t. And for a lot of folks, just the mere mention brings back warm Christmas memories and an idealistic look back at a simpler time.
There aren’t a whole lot of things in the world that can do that.
But it takes quite a bit of work to pull off something like The Nutcracker – a performance with a lot of moving parts that each requires choreography and a keen sense of stage awareness. The beauty of it all is that it becomes amazingly diverse and provides young, aspiring dancers the chance to play parts that simply won’t work for their adult counterparts.
Mice. Snowflakes. Sugar cookies.
Each requires a young person to pull off and gives them a chance to dream of one day dancing the lead roles that captivate the audience. People like:
• Clara and Fritz Stahlbaum – The two children that set the stage for the ballet in the opening scene at a party at the Stahlbaum house. Their Godfather, Herr Drosselmeyer, arrives and distributes presents to the children, and Clara ends up getting a toy Nutcracker. Fritz breaks it and while Drosselmeyer repairs it, she ends up falling asleep with it in her arms somewhat disappointed. Then she enters the dream phase of the ballet.
• The Mouse King – During her dream Clara watches the toy soldiers of Fritz and her own Nutcracker waging a battle against a giant Mouse King. Her Nutcracker is about to be defeated but she enters the fray by throwing a shoe at the Mouse King, which stuns him and allows the Nutcracker to stab him with his sword.
• The Prince – The Nutcracker transforms into a beautiful prince right before Clara’s eyes and leads her to a land of snow. They both dance as snowflakes fall all around them. Together they end up in The Land of the Sweets where they meet the Sugar Plum Fairy. Together they take in various dances from around the world. They dance again.
“Once you learn the story you fall in love with it and it’s something that you just want to learn so much more about,” said former Sugar Plum Fairy Amelia Carroll. “People bring their entire families to come see the performances, and you realize how important it is to people. It’s a tradition and it’s a beautiful piece of music and a wonderfully choreographed ballet. You kind of get swept up in making sure that you’re in the right place or making sure your foot is where it needs to be sometimes, but when you get to step back and just look, you know how big it is.”
And you don’t have to go to Broadway or San Francisco’s Theater District just to see a decent rendition to this most famous Christmas tradition.
From Dec. 12 through Dec. 21, the Central West Ballet will be presenting its version of The Nutcracker at The Gallo Center for the Arts in Downtown Modesto – offering a matinee at 2 p.m. and an evening show at 7 p.m., each of the days during the run.
The Sacramento Ballet will again be hosting its Nutcracker run with performances on Dec. 6 (2 and 7 p.m.), Dec. 7 (3 p.m. with live music), Dec. 12 (7 p.m.), Dec. 13 (2 and 7 p.m. with live evening music), Dec. 14 (1 and 5:30 p.m. with live matinee music), Dec. 19 (7 p.m. with live music), Dec. 20 (2 and 7 p.m. with live evening music) and Dec. 21 (1 and 5:30 p.m. with live evening music).
San Francisco – the Granddaddy of them all – will have its run from Dec. 12 through Dec. 29 with the majority of the shows running at 2 and 7 p.m. The only off days during that stretch are Dec. 17 and Christmas Day, and opening night is without a matinee (7 p.m. only) while Christmas Eve has shows at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. The last performance on Dec. 29 begins at 11 a.m. Every other day offers two shows – at 2 and 7 p.m.