Happy March! Nutcracker is the new ballet of the month. Its first United States performance was in 1944 by the San Francisco Ballet, staged by its artistic director and Balanchine student Willam Christensen. JAC Students will be observing this famous ballet for the month of March.
National Opera of Ukraine, Clara : Iuliia Moskalenko The Nutcracker / The Prince: Mykyta Sukhorukov
Photography by Henry Leutwyler
The Nutcracker is a Christmas tradition for many people, and children enjoy it as much as adults do. It tells the story of Clara, a young girl who shrinks to the size of a mouse, while her nutcracker toy goes to war against the evil Mouse King.
It was composed by Tchaikovsky, and choreographed by Marius Petipa and Ivanov and it premiered in 1892 at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, where it was not originally successful.
The critics tore it a part. Tchaikovsky ignored the critics. The 8 pieces of music cut by Tchaikovsky developed the Nutcracker Suite and was made popular for the next 50 years, until George Balanchine set new choreography to the suite on the New York City Ballet. Balanchine's version is most loved today.