Everything You Need to Know About “The Nutcracker”

Interesting facts about the Christmas classic before watching Ballet Philippines’ latest staging at the Cultural Center of the Philippines on December 17 & 18

By Chino Hernandez

The Nutcracker is one of the most influential ballets ever made

Today, The Nutcracker is often regarded as one of the most influential ballets ever written. Each year, it is performed by hundreds of ballet companies around the world during the yuletide season. In fact, it was reported by Crain’s New York Business that The Nutcracker is one of the most financially viable ballets to stage, with major companies earning a majority of their yearly box office revenues through Christmas performances. Its place in pop culture has been cemented through numerous films, television specials, tributes, and even parodies. The first notable appearance of The Nutcracker in popular culture was in the 1940 Disney animated film Fantasia, which featured a segment using Tchaikovsky’s popular “Waltz of the Flowers” suite.

The ballet was not well received in 1892

After the success of The Sleeping Beauty in 1890, art impresario Ivan Vsevolozhsky commissioned the re-teaming of Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and choreographer Marius Petipa for a new ballet. Librettist Ivan Alexandrovich Vsevolozkshy was then hired to adapt E.T.A. Hoffman’s 1816 short story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. Production would be turbulent, as Tchaikovsky struggled to see the greatness in his score. In addition, Petipa would be replaced by his assistant Lev Ivanov after falling ill. The company carried on, eventually premiering the ballet at the Imperial Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg on December 18, 1892. Critics back then perceived the piece to be “amateurish” and “dull,” while the libretto was panned for being unfaithful to the source material.

It wasn’t sunshine and daisies in the “Waltz of the Flowers”

By all accounts, Tchaikovsky was unhappy while composing the music of The Nutcracker. Pained by the early closure of his opera Pique Dame, he was coaxed into writing the ballet as a way to win back the public. He hoped that his new score would capture the same magic The Sleeping Beauty did two years prior. However, the initial failure of The Nutcracker affected him further. He disliked the new libretto written by Vsevolozkshy, and the fact that it was presented as a double-bill with his opera Iolanthe. While his “Waltz of the Flowers” suite would gain in popularity later on, Tchaikovsky would always consider his Nutcracker score a failure when compared to his other works.

Ballet Philippines’ is staging the entire two-act ballet

After its December 1892 release date, the iconic Christmas ballet was not performed in its entirety until 1944, when the San Francisco Opera Ballet staged a performance under the direction of William Christensen. Since then, it has been rare to see both acts of The Nutcracker performed together, with many dance companies opting to stage excerpts instead.

This year, Ballet Philippines is proud to be the only company in the country to present the ballet in full. “The uniqueness of our performance is its high level of musicality,” says Ballet Philippines’ Artistic Director Mikhail “Misha” Martynyuk. “Every scene is built precisely to the rhythm of the composer’s work.”

Ballet Philippines’ The Nutcracker premieres at the Cultural Center of the Philippines on December 17.