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{{Tchaikovsky stage works}}
'''''The Nutcracker''''' ({{
Since the late 1960s,
Tchaikovsky's score has become one of his most famous compositions. Among other things, the score is noted for its use of the [[celesta]], an instrument the composer had already employed in his much lesser known [[symphonic poem|symphonic ballad]] ''[[The Voyevoda (symphonic ballad)|The Voyevoda]]'' (1891).
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[[File:Olga Preobrajnskaya Legat -Nutcracker 1.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Olga Preobrajenska]] as the Sugar Plum Fairy and [[Nikolai Legat]] as Prince Coqueluche in the ''Grand pas de deux'' in the original production of ''The Nutcracker''. [[Imperial Mariinsky Theatre]], Saint Petersburg, c. 1900]]In 1919, choreographer [[Alexander Gorsky]] staged a production which eliminated the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier and gave their dances to Clara and the Nutcracker Prince, who were played by adults instead of children. This was the first production to do so. An abridged version of the ballet was first performed outside Russia in Budapest (Royal Opera House) in 1927, with choreography by Ede Brada.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.php?act=Print&client=printer&f=18&t=28368 |title=Ballet Talk [Powered by Invision Power Board] |publisher=Ballettalk.invisionzone.com |date=26 November 2008 |access-date=7 January 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090917225740/http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.php?act=Print&client=printer&f=18&t=28368 |archive-date=17 September 2009}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=January 2009}} In 1934, choreographer [[Vasili Vainonen]] staged a version of the work that addressed many of the criticisms of the original 1892 production by casting adult dancers in the roles of Clara and the Prince, as Gorsky had. The Vainonen version influenced several later productions.<ref name="anderson" />
The first complete performance outside Russia took place in England in 1934,<ref name="balletmet1"/> staged by [[Nicholas Sergeyev]] after Petipa's original choreography. Annual performances of the ballet have been staged there since 1952.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/dance/article3000261.ece | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615201139/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/dance/article3000261.ece | url-status=dead | archive-date=15 June 2011 | location=London | work=The Times | first=Debra | last=Craine | title=Christmas cracker | date=8 December 2007}}</ref> Another abridged version of the ballet, performed by the [[Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo]], was staged in [[New York City]] in 1940,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu//oasis/deliver/deepLink?_collection=oasis&uniqueId=hou00231|title=Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo records, 1935–1968 (MS Thr 463): Guide.|access-date=3 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001625/http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu//oasis/deliver/deepLink?_collection=oasis&uniqueId=hou00231|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Alexandra Fedorova (choreographer)|Alexandra Fedorova]] – again, after Petipa's version.<ref name="balletmet1"/> The ballet's first complete United States performance was on 24 December 1944 by the [[San Francisco Ballet]], staged by its artistic director, [[Willam Christensen]], and starring Gisella Caccialanza as the Sugar Plum Fairy, and Jocelyn Vollmar as the Snow Queen.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/remembering-jocelyn-vollmar-1925-2018-s-f-ballets-1st-snow-queen-sparkled-on-and-off-stage|title = Remembering Jocelyn Vollmar (1925-2018): SF Ballet's 1st Snow Queen sparkled on- and offstage}}</ref><ref name="balletmet1"/> After the enormous success of this production, San Francisco Ballet has presented ''Nutcracker'' every Christmas Eve and throughout the winter season, debuting new productions in 1944, 1954, 1967, and 2004. The original Christensen version continues in [[Salt Lake City]], where Christensen relocated in 1948. It has been performed every year since 1963 by the Christensen-founded [[Ballet West]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://balletwest.org/about|title = About : Ballet West}}</ref>
The [[New York City Ballet]] gave its first annual performance of [[George Balanchine]]'s reworked staging of ''The Nutcracker'' in 1954.<ref name="balletmet1"/> The performance of [[Maria Tallchief]] in the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy helped elevate the work from obscurity into an annual Christmas classic and the industry's most reliable box-office draw. Critic Walter Terry remarked that "Maria Tallchief, as the Sugar Plum Fairy, is herself a creature of magic, dancing the seemingly impossible with effortless beauty of movement, electrifying us with her brilliance, enchanting us with her radiance of being. Does she have any equals anywhere, inside or outside of fairyland? While watching her in ''The Nutcracker,'' one is tempted to doubt it."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kennedy-center.org:80/explorer/artists/?entity_id=3758&source_type=A |title=Maria Tallchief |website=The Kennedy Center |publisher=The [[John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts]] |access-date=15 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708024003/http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/artists/?entity_id=3758&source_type=A |archive-date=8 July 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
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* Children Guests
* Parents dressed as ''[[Incroyables and Merveilleuses|incroyables]]''
* Herr Drosselmeyer
** His nephew (in some versions) who resembles the Nutcracker Prince and is played by the same dancer
* Dolls (spring-activated, sometimes all three dancers instead):
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=== Act I ===
'''''Scene 1: The Stahlbaum Home'''''
[[File:Nutcracker design (cropped).jpg|alt=|left|thumb|Konstantin Ivanov's original sketch for the set of ''The Nutcracker'' (1892)]]
When the party begins,<ref>{{cite AV media | first1=Yekaterina | last1=Maximova | first2=Vladimir | last2=Vasiliev| date=1967 | title=Nutcracker Suite Performed By The Bolshoi (1967) | location=Moscow, Russia| publisher=British Pathé|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnAsmLgEGnA}}</ref> presents are given out to the children.
Clara and her brother Fritz are sad to see the dolls being taken away, but Drosselmeyer has yet another toy for them: a wooden [[nutcracker doll]], which the other children ignore. Clara immediately takes a liking to it, but Fritz accidentally breaks it. Clara is heartbroken, but Drosselmeyer fixes the nutcracker, much to everyone's relief.
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During the night, after everyone else has gone to bed, Clara returns to the parlor to check on the nutcracker. As she reaches the small bed, the clock strikes midnight and she looks up to see Drosselmeyer perched atop it. Suddenly, mice begin to fill the room and the Christmas tree begins to grow to dizzying heights. The nutcracker also grows to life size. Clara finds herself in the midst of a battle between an army of gingerbread soldiers and the mice, led by their king.
The nutcracker appears to lead the
'''''Scene 2: A Pine Forest'''''
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Clara and the Prince travel to the beautiful Land of Sweets, ruled by the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Prince's place until his return. He recounts for her how he had been saved from the Mouse King by Clara and transformed back into himself.
In honor of the young heroine, a celebration of sweets from around the world is produced:
A final waltz is performed by all the sweets, after which the Sugar Plum Fairy ushers Clara and the Prince down from their throne. He bows to her, she kisses Clara goodbye, and leads them to a reindeer-drawn sleigh. It takes off as they wave goodbye to all the subjects who wave back.
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* The song "Fall Out" by English band [[Mansun]] from their 1998 album ''[[Six (Mansun album)|Six]]'' heavily relies on the celesta theme from the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.
* The song "[[Dark Ballet]]" by American singer-songwriter [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]] samples the melody of Dance of the Reed Flutes (Danish [[Marzipan]]) which is often mistaken for Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. The song also relied on the lesser-known harp cadenza from Waltz of the Flowers. The same Tchaikovsky sample was earlier used in internationally famous 1992 ads for [[Cadbury Dairy Milk Fruit & Nut]] with 'Madonna' as the singing chocolate bar (in Russian version the subtitles "'This Is Madonna'" ({{lang-rus|Это Мадонна|Eto Madonna}}) were displayed on a screen).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://youtube.com/embed/gVIQDaI-emc?start=67|title=Reklamka Vimto i Frut'n'Nuts (1994)|publisher=YouTube channel "towaroved" |access-date=24 September 2019|language=ru}}</ref>
===Video games===
* ''Waltz of the Flowers'' is played in one chapter of ''[[What Remains of Edith Finch]]''.
* The official [[Nintendo]] published version of ''[[Tetris]]'' for the [[Nintendo Entertainment System]], as well as the [[Game Boy Advance]] version of ''Tetris Worlds'' features ''Dance of the Suger Plum Fairy'' as one of their music options, and the [[Game Boy]] version uses ''Trepak'' as victory music for clearing 25 lines on Type B level 9.
==See also==
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* {{IMSLP|work=The Nutcracker (suite), Op.71a (Tchaikovsky, Pyotr)|cname=The Nutcracker (suite)}}
* [http://en.tchaikovsky-research.net/pages/The_Nutcracker Tchaikovsky Research]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140222203538/http://www.kultur-fibel.de/Ballett;Der_Nussknacker,Tschaikowsky.htm The Nutcracker ballet]
{{Ballets of Marius Petipa}}
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