An Informative Speech On The Nutcracker

The repertoire includes such classics as Tchaikovsky‘s "Eugene Onegin" and "Swan Lake" and works by Mozart, Verdi and Rossini. Other popular productions are Massenet‘s ballet "Manon" and the operas "Don Juan" by Mozart, "War and Peace" by Prokofiev and Wagner‘s "Das Rheingold". The latest productions are Tchaikovsky‘s "The Nutcracker" Puccini‘s "La Boheme" and Verdi‘s "Macbeth". The most famous Russian ballet companies are; Tatchkine, St. Petersburg, Bolshoi companies just to name a few of the most famous.

For the history of Russian Classical ballet, it originated in a group of dance academies in Moscow and St Petersburg in the eighteenth century. At first the dancers were from poor backgrounds - usually from orphanages - but the Tsars were particular ballet enthusiasts and so the profile grew. However, in the nineteenth century some of the best French and Italian dancers and teachers went to Russia and ballet developed considerably more than in Western Europe where opera was preferred. It was under this climate that Russian ballet led the way in classical dance with such famous stars as Anna Pavlova, Mikhail Foskine and the legendary Nijinsky, who all trained with the Frenchman Marius Petipa at the St Petersburg Imperial Ballet.

Have you ever watched the Nutcracker as a ballet? Or seen a professional dancer dance? You probably thought of some of the things that they did were effortless. The truth is, it isn’t what you think. Dancers go through pain, stress, and shoes (Seriously!) to do what they do. There are a lot of people that think that dancing is easy, and I am here to set that straight. Let me start off by talking about the pain.

Walt Disney once said, “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible,” and I guess he was right. Disney made films that made a wooden puppet into a real boy, a thief into a handsome, and a beast into a man. Disney created dreams for little kids of becoming royalty, but was that all they had in mind? Although Disney films may seem full of happy thoughts with true love’s kiss, but in reality they are just bibidi bodibi booed with a dash of pixie dust to hide the real truth behind the films.

On November 25, 2017 I attended The Nutcracker ballet performance at the Eisemann Center. The dance was adapted from a story by E.T.A Hoffman with the music by Tchaikovsky. The show was a faithful adaptation of The Nutcracker with the dancers, costumes, sets, and Tchaikovsky’s music all playing an integral part in depicting the story in an entertaining way. Overall, the presentation was successful in portraying the holiday classic that is The Nutcracker, and the majestic sets and costumes along with the music allowed for sustained attention and spectacle that was still true to the narrative of The Nutcracker. The production did this by having grand, bright costumes and sets that resembled the time period of The Nutcracker and depicted the setting of the dances, the original music by Tchaikovsky which was able to produce the emotions that come with the story, and lighting techniques that showed the weather and time of day which helped show what scenes were being told throughout the performance.

Which choreographer created several famous full length ballets, including Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and The Nutcracker?

Another one of the main differences between Russian ballets and Balanchine ballets are the people or items of importance that might inspire a ballet to be created. There are so many ballets that have been inspired by things like old folklores or ancient fairy-tales. These ballets are likely to be of Russian origin. Many ballets such as Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty, or even The Nutcracker are just few of the many examples of Russian originated ballets based on fairy-tales. “Petipa’s later works showed the way to much of the innovation of the future, and the choreography and pedagogy of Balanchine (though carried on primarily in the United States) represent the most important creative response to the legacy of Petipa’s nineteenth-century ballet academy - and the most significant twentieth-century development of Russian ballet traditions.” (Scholl 2) However, Balanchine was not so quick to rely on thing such as old stories or folkloric tales. Many of Balanchine’s ballets rely on the things that were around

I get to express myself more. In ballet you have to use shoes and everything but in modern it’s bare feet, you get to feel the floor, you get to mess with everybody and have a lot more fun” she said.

Listening to Music class has taught me a new way to listen and enjoy music. I have learned how to differentiate the melodies, rhythms, and instruments in a song. It has also introduced me to different genres in the music world, aside from what is usually played on the radio. I can now attend any concert, listen to any genre, or watch any ballet and easily recognize the many specific aspects the music being played has. Ballets are very interesting to me. The audience is able to enjoy the music being played as it is telling a story, and being acted out through the performer’s body language. In the two ballets, The Rite of Spring and The Nutcracker, a great story is told in both referencing the many great dynamics music has. These two specific ballets are written by different composers, and each one of them have certain conditions they were written under. As well as different receptions, popularity, and development. The Rite of Spring and The Nutcracker’s differences has made some sort of an impact in the performing world back then as well as now.

Growing up was never easy for me, but I did not let that stop me from pursuing my ballet career. I didn’t grow up doing ballet, and taking my first ballet class at the Boys and Girls Club at age 13 gave me a setback compared to others who may have been dancing since they were 3. My teacher put me into many positions,

Classical ballet took a step forward and revived prominent roles for men; whom previously the Romantic era had solely focused on the art of the

Tchaikovsky wrote The Nutcracker at the request of the Director of the Imperial Theatres, Ivan Vsevolozhskii (Poznansky, 2012). The Nutcracker is based on E. T. A. Hoffmann’s fairy tale, of which Tchaikovsky was fond of. However he did not like using The Nutcracker for a ballet scenario. The ballet tells the story of a young girl, Clara, who is given a nutcracker for Christmas. Clara then falls asleep and dreams the nutcracker fights an evil mouse king. The nutcracker then turns into a prince and takes her to a land of snow, where he tells her the story of the battle with the army of mice. She does several dances for the Prince to celebrate his triumph in battle. She then awakens and learns it was all just a dream (Green, n.d.). The Nutcracker was

The history of ballet is rich, complex and full of powerful meanings depending on the time period. Ballet in the 15th century was seen as something that only select individuals could do, whereas, the 20th century ballet can be preformed by anyone. By thinking about how ballet performers have changed, a question may be thought is, have the people attending these ballet performances changed as well as the performers themselves? Today, children from ages two and up start taking ballet and family members come and watch their final recitals. National ballet companies are also an event and often draw attention to the higher-class individuals who have a taste for ballet. The ballet world could be seen as to having a quite array of attendees, events and functions, but that might not have always been the

[Topic Justification] Before I started taking a survey of art class at ISU, this disquieting painting was all I knew about Edvard Munch’s work.

General purpose: To inform Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the causes, symptoms, and treatments of the Alice in Wonderland Syndrome. Thesis Statement: The Alice in Wonderland Syndrome is a rare neurological condition caused by changes to parts of the brain involved with sensory information. This distorts perception and warps the senses, causing symptoms that become the target areas for treatment. Introduction I.