The Nutcracker Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
The story of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King was written by E. T. A. Hoffmann. Alexandre Dumas' adaptation of the story was set to music by the composer Tchaikovsky and has become the most popular ballet performed around Christmas time. It is appealing to children and adults alike and has been a standard yearly feature of theaters in many cities.
The story has been published in many book versions including cute charming children's versions. The plot revolves around a little girl named Clara, who attends a Christmas banquet and celebration given by her uncle, the mysterious and possibly magical Dr. Drosselmeyer. Clara is given a Nutcracker carved to resemble a soldier as a present, but the Nutcracker is broken by a mischievous boy also attending the ball. Dr. Drosselmeyer fixes the Nutcracrker and presents it back to Clara. Later that evening after everyone has left or gone to bed, Clara has a dream in she is the size of the Nutcracker, and she encounters such fascinating characters such as Egyptian and Chinese dolls, house mice, wooden soldiers, and the Sugar Plum Fairy. She is protected all the way by the Nutcracker, hence the name.
Tchaikovsky composed the ballet in 1891-1892, but he was unsatisfied with it and considered it to be one of his less successful pieces.
Suites derived from this ballet (although the sequence and included movements can somewhat differ they are all called The Nutcracker Suite, amongst which the short suite Tchaikovsky had produced himself) became very popular on the concert stage, eventually one of these ending up in Disney's Fantasia.
Because the original ballet is quite long, many modern dance performances make several omissions (adding to the confusion over the suites).
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