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Writer's pictureCindy Case

A Brief History of the Nutcracker


The Nutcracker is a time-honored tradition, but have you ever seen a production and wondered, "Where on Earth did they come up with that story?"


You wouldn't be alone. Although companies around the world (and especially in the United States) perform The Nutcracker each holiday season, its journey to the stage involved some twists and turns.


It all started with a nut that someone wanted to crack. Folks have been using various tools to crack for thousands of years, but standing nutcrackers shaped like soldiers date back to early 19th-century Germany. You can visit the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum online to learn more. The fashion for building nutcrackers of this type coincided with German romanticism in literature, leading Prussian writer E.T.A. Hoffmann to pen The Nutcracker and the Mouse King in 1816. The rest is history!



Before the Ballet, There Was Hoffmann

As a Romanticist, E.T.A. Hoffmann was reacting to the rational philosophy of the Enlightenment movement. That's part of the reason why the story as we know it may seem a bit nonsensical. His protagonist, named Marie in the original story, is a compassionate and imaginative girl in a family led by strict rules. Much like Dorothy Gale or Wendy Darling, Marie is trying to escape a world that has no room for fantasy.


In Hoffmann's story, Marie wakes up immediately after the Battle scene to find herself in her own bed with a bandage on her arm:


"Her mother then came to the bedside, and gazed upon her with anxious and inquiring looks. 'Ah, dear mother,' lisped little Marie, 'are all the hateful mice gone, and is the good Nutcracker safe?'


Photo by John Maloney

'Do not talk such foolish stuff,' replied her mother; 'what have the mice to do with Nutcracker? You naughty child, you have caused us a great deal of anxiety... You played last night with your dolls until it was very late. You became sleepy, probably, and a stray mouse may have jumped out and frightened you; at all events, you broke a pane of glass with your elbow, and cut your arm so severely, that neighbor Wendelstern, who has just taken the piece of glass out of the wound, declares that it came very near cutting a vein, in which case you might have had a stiff arm all your life, or perhaps have bled to death.'"

-E.T.A Hoffmann, Chapter 6: The Sickness, in The Nutcracker and the Mouse King


The mother's bitter monologue shows a very different relationship than the warmth that usually exists between Clara and her mother onstage. Rather than celebrating the holiday season, Hoffmann was making a point about the way of the world.


BTM corps de ballet member Karen Fleming explains this in more detail. Karen graduated with a double major in Dance and English from the University of Richmond and has recently been researching the source material behind The Nutcracker. She has this to say:


"When I read Hoffmann's story for the first time, I was surprised by how different it was thematically from the ballet version audiences know and love today. The power of imagination is certainly a concept emphasized in both, but Hoffman contrasts this idea with harsh social criticism. From the condescending attitude that Marie's family has toward her stories to her macabre injury and illness, Hoffmann suggests that reality is undeniably bleak. As the story evolved over time, these details began disappearing in order to make it more child-friendly."


Karen poses with Sarah Hoffman (no relation to E.T.A.) as Flowers in The Nutcracker

Karen emphasizes the heavy tone that hangs over much of Marie's adventures in Hoffmann's original story. Hoffmann does give Marie a happy ending--when she swears that she would love the Nutcracker no matter how squat and ugly his form might be, he is transformed back into Herr Drosselmeier's handsome nephew. But still, it is not quite the story we know today. The Nutcracker and The Mouse King would undergo a transformation before it was ready to grace the stage.


Enter Dumas: Pure Imagination Takes Hold

In 1845, Alexandre Dumas adapted Hoffmann's story into a more whimsical, child-friendly version called The History of a Nutcracker. In addition to softening the events for a younger audience and writing in his native French, Dumas also changed the name of its heroine from Marie Stahlbaum (which translates into English as the austere "Steel Tree") to Marie Silverhaus. The name "Silver House" evokes a more magical image, in keeping with his approach to the story.


Our heroine's name has changed, but it still hasn't become "Clara"! Although "Marie" is used for the lead character in some ballet productions, notably in George Balanchine's, "Clara" is the more common name given to our young lead among American companies. In both Hoffmann and Dumas's stories, "Clara" is the name of a doll that Marie's godfather Drosselmeier gives her.


It's unclear exactly why this switch happened, but it dates to the very first ballet of the story. In BTM's Nutcracker, choreographer Dianna Cuatto paid homage to the name "Marie" by giving it to Clara's cousin.


Dumas's lighter take on The Nutcracker would prove consequential. Almost forty years later, it would serve to inspire a brand new production in 19th-century Russia.


The Nutcracker, 1892: An Unfortunate Flop

Much like the cosmopolitan roots of The Sleeping Beauty, the 1892 production of The Nutcracker came from international sources. Hoffmann's Germanic influence remained in Dumas's French adaptation of the work, which captured the attention of Ivan Vsevolozhsky, Vsevolozhsky, the Director of Imperial Theatres in Russia, tasked French ballet master Marius Petipa and Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky with bringing The Nutcracker to the stage.


Photo by Joseph Mazzara

As would happen a few years later with the revival of Swan Lake, Petipa fell ill and would need Lev Ivanov to take over much of the choreography. The resulting production incorporated its French and German influences while also celebrating nostalgia for Russian Christmas festivities.


"It sketched familiar drawing-room rituals and featured a sparkling decorated tree, delicious German candies, brave toy soldiers, and, as the scenario put it, a scrumptious 'enchanted palace from the land of confectionary sweets.'"

-Jennifer Homans, Apollo's Angels, page 279.


Although the ballet was commended for its snow scene, dance historian Jennifer Homans notes that it received a poor critical reception. Critics disapproved of how many children were involved in the production, how little substance there was to the story, and how little the Sugar Plum Fairy danced. According to Tchaikovsky's letters, the audience was bored on opening night. The Nutcracker eventually fell out of the repertoire in Russia.


Photo by Joseph Mazzara

New York, 1954: The Nutcracker Is Reborn

Although the Russian production of The Nutcracker did not last for very long, it continued to be revived long enough for George Balanchine to perform it as a student. When the famous choreographer eventually founded New York City Ballet, this period of his life was a particularly fond memory.


While the 1892 production had been nostalgic for long-since-past Russian holidays, Balanchine's Nutcracker evoked the choreographer's own childhood in the early 20th century. His production has many of the elements that were panned by critics of the original: an abundance of children onstage, relatively little plot, and a limited role for the ballerina to play. But this time something different happened: audiences loved it.


Without the particular high expectations of Imperial Theatre audiences, New York theatre-goers recognized the joy and magic that the production held. Although New York City Ballet was not the first U.S. company to stage a production of The Nutcracker (William Christiansen choreographed one for San Francisco Ballet in 1944), Balanchine's take on the ballet is the one that cemented it in the American holiday tradition.


Ballet Theatre of Maryland's Nutcracker

Today, just about every American ballet company and many ballet schools perform The Nutcracker over the holiday season. While audiences in 1892 might not have appreciated the childlike wonder and simplicity of The Nutcracker, those are the things that have led to its enduring staying power. Here in Annapolis, we're celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Dianna Cuatto's production!


Her Nutcracker has made a big mark on the holidays here in Annapolis for many years. Each season, we reprise the production by studying videos and handing down knowledge from one dancer to another. This happens both directly and indirectly: at the front of the room, our Artistic Director Nicole Kelsch is often coaching dancers on roles she has performed; on the fringes of the room, experienced dancers watch their newer counterparts, encourage them, and share details.


It's wonderful looking back on the many years of Dianna's Nutcracker and marveling at how this process brings the same production alive each year. Above, a former BTM dancer poses in the Party scene as one of Drosselmeier's dancing dolls. Below, current principal dancer Victoria Siracusa is caught in a similar moment:


Photo by John Maloney

Nutcracker season is always an exciting time of year for dancers, and we're thrilled to present the 20th Anniversary of Dianna Cuatto's production! To learn more about the performances or purchase tickets, please visit our Nutcracker page.


Promotional photo by Joanne Marie Photography




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