i have seen a local nutcracker twice.beatifule'graceful dancers.the nutcracker is a classic ballet.i love watching the graceful male and female dancers.i hope to see a professional version of the nutcracker(professional company)next year.sure to be even better.dancers have the best bodies.and i do enjoy looking at the female dancers to.but besides that i just love the show.

I love The Nutcracker, in all of its many guises. Managing Directors and Boards of Directors love it too. Performers often have a bit of a love/hate relationship, largely due to the sheer numbers of performances they are required to prepare and present....

Imagine how stage managers feel.

<small>[ 07 February 2004, 11:08 AM: Message edited by: salzberg ]</small>

I have come to enjoy several versions, but my heart goes out to the artists and the injuries they sustain from the repeated performances.

The larget number in 1 year I have come across was English National Ballet in 2002/3 where they performed "The Nutcracker" some 60 odd times around the UK.

I have never liked the Nutcracker AT ALL until last year when I saw both The Kirov's version and Matthew Bourne's version. What a difference a vivid imagination, innovative direction and a fantastic set design can make in a production that has been done a million times.

~dani

I dunno, sure it's great, but I prefer to perform things rather than watch them. I guess in some ways I'm more of a "doer" than a "seer". I especially like the bit either just before or just after the opening night where everyone's going "Oh ****, I'm so nervous, I'm gonna screw up in front of everyone and the director's gonna <I>kill</I> me!", or "Oh ****, did anyone see?" as the case may be. One case of this is where I (as the Nutcracker) left some felt circles that were glued to my cheeks to signify my doll-hood/lack of doll-hood on stage. Of course not a single person I talked to noticed them, and the Snow Queen kicked 'em off just as she took her last exit. Wow... I guess that was slightly rambling, and slightly off-topic... Oh well, I know you all loved it anyway .
<BR>Anyway, The Nutcracker is fine as ballets go, and different from the other classics (lovers, curse, etc., etc.), but it doesn't give me any chance to show off like the arrogant jerk I am until I can do the Cavalier bit. At least not in my company's version, which all four choreographers are loath to change. The other thing is, what with the slightly stagnant choreography, it gets a little annoying doing it year after year. Especially Fritz... it seems kind of silly to have the "young brat" part filled by a fourteen year-old more physically and mentally suited for the danseur noble part. Of course I do that too... there's no shortage of parts for a guy in my company.

I always enjoy "The Nutcracker," no matter whose choreography it is, because I love the music from the first act. (The second act is OK too.) That keeps me going to see several performances every year.

I hate the Nutcracker. I used to love it, but the that love has evolved to a serious dislike of the ballet favorite. Nowadays, I try everything I can not to perform it, but somehow manage to monetarily get talked into it. I don't plan on seeing a performance ever again. The music is nice and all, but the story is lame, the first act is boring as all get out, the dancing is stupid and for some reason just doesn't work. If only the freakin Mouse King lopped off the Nutcracker's head and than had his way with the Arabian, that might be something. I am affraid this Annual Holiday tradition is done, over, finis, capput for me.

Time for you to choreograph a new version, trabhtor!

What it needs is someone like Peter Jackson do to for Nutcracker what he did with "The Lord Of The Rings". Now that would be something.

Trabthor, you might enjoy Matthew Bourne's radical new version, which has been on UK TV recently.

Maybe, I love the stuff that Matthew Bourne's group is doing. Very fresh, new, exciting and different.

Septime Webre of the Washington Ballet is in the process of creating a new Nutcracker that sounds pretty interesting. Mary Day is retiring and when she leaves she wants to retire her
'Nutcracker' too. So Mr. Webre is creating a Nutcracker that "will feature references to Washington DC and American history, while remaining loyal to the classical vocabulary of ballet as well as the traditional story line...
Mr. Webre's vision aims to create a production of 'The Nutcracker' that will become a distinct part of the Washington DC community...The ballet will be set in historic Washington in 1882 in the parlor of a Georgetown mansion; various figures from Washington's past will appear in the Party scene such as a fictionalized president and Frederick Douglass; In Clara's dream, the Nutcracker himself will have an uncanny resemblance to George Washington, the Rat King to George III, the rats to British Army Red Coats and the toy soldiers to a regiment of the Continental Army" from the WB press release.
The Nutcracker creates a major part of the Washington Ballet's annual income and is very important to the company both financially and as a community service.

I think Nutcracker is important to Ballet companies on many levels, as a Stage Manager I called over 500 performances over the years and I still like it, for several reasons:
It offers, what few dance companies, otherwise cannot provide, namely, a good long stretch in the theatre. Theatre companies and broadway tours take this for granted but increasingly for many dance companies 3-6 performances of a rep. show and it's over.
It is also a time where the corps get a chance to be "tried out" in Soloist roles, especially in the larger companies who do very long runs
(ask a dancer what was their first big break).
Sure it can be a drag to be a 7th year corps dancer doing "Chinese" yet again, but if you also get to do Waltz Pas, Arabian, or Snow Pas etc. it is often worth it. Next it is a chance(like it or not) to really get the corps up to speed, as was discussed in the ABT/NYCB thread,and to get new dancers and apprentices indoctrinated with the company style and culture.
Really it's how you approach "NUTS" that determines your experience year to year. Next it gives the school kids and parents a a taste of what it will be like if they go on to a professional career.
And of course, last, for many companies(including the likes of NYCB,ABT)it represents 2/3 of their total yearly earned income. Take that away, and we would be looking at a very different Ballet landscape in the US.
Food for thought!!

Thank you DT, you make some excellent points. I usually don't go to see a Nut during the holiday season because I've seen so many over the years. But I am looking forward to seeing the Washington Ballet's new ballet. And as you say it provides a company with some unique opportunities. The Washington Ballet gets to give their Outreach kids (inner city school kids) an opportunity to perform in public.