Long ago, before Biological Anthropology seminars and eighty page readings every night we enjoyed stories-simple ones. It was not hard to imagine yourself as a princess or a nutcracker on the night before Christmas, or to believe in a fat elf squeezing through your chimney and dropping off tons of presents.
Likewise, as adults, there are times we can shoulder disbelief and once again enjoy fantastical things, and "The Great Russian Nutcracker" is the perfect opportunity to lose yourself once again in childhood fantasy.
That is not to say that the Nutcracker is only for children. This performance speaks loudly to all ages, intriguing even the most rigid viewers into a juvenile awe.
With the beautifully colored hand-painted sets, and dazzling vivid costumes, the ballet catches your eye at first leap, and leaves you lock-eyed on nothing but the stage and performers.
For those unfamiliar with the story of the Nutcracker, it goes something like this: On Christmas eve the family and friends of the Stahlbaums are all visiting the Stahlbaum estate.
The Stahlbaum children, Fritz and Masha (that is the name in the Moscow ballet; we call her Clara) are eagerly awaiting their presents when a masked man walks into the house. The mysterious man teases the children, and then unmasks himself revealing that he is Uncle Drosselmeyer, the toymaker, and also the mysterious narrator-like character in the ballet.
Drosselmeyer gives all of the children hand-made toys, the most extravagant being a nutcracker given to Clara. While playing, as children will do, Clara's brother Fritz breaks the nutcracker, leaving Clara upset right before bedtime.
While Clara is in a fitful sleep, the Nutcracker comes to life and fights an army of mice, then defeats the Rat King. Next, he transforms into a prince and whisks Clara away into a land full of foreign dancers and animals, snow fairies and angels.
After a final battle where the Nutcracker kills the Rat King, the dancers flourish and Clara awakes to a restored Nutcracker.
The dances in the ballet however perform a much more elegant version of the story along one of Tchaikovsky's masterpieces, titled "The Nutcracker" (see the pattern?). "The Nutcracker" was composed between 1891 and 1892 by a very unwilling Tchaikovsky. He would often call it his "worst" piece.
Tchaikovsky's "worst" ballet has won a place in the hearts of many, and is a popular ballet which many children dream of performing in. Many St. Louis children became very lucky when their school of dance was cast into the Moscow Ballet's performance.
The leading cast of "Nutcracker" was performed by the Moscow Ballet, while the performance cast St. Louis' own Alexandra Ballet for the children's cast. The children played parts often on the same stage as the Moscow ballerinas and dancers.
The performance, like most ballets, has no dialog and therefore was silent besides the Nutcracker's music. However, the dancers created a world in which the audience too was left speechless.
The international dancers, including representatives from Russia, France, Spain, and Arabia are crowd favorites.
In this part of the ballet, the famous suites associated with "The Nutcracker" are heard, and performed beautifully to the music truly creating an alternate world for viewers.
"The Great Russian Nutcracker" was a performance that offered a lively holiday experience for students, as well as parents and children. For more information on the Moscow Ballet, visit www.nutcracker.com.
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