The Nutcracker

I hate it when they don't do Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker right.   I hate it when they leave out characters, delete scenes, add new music, take portions away, and get "clever" with it in general.  He knew better than you.  He wrote it.  Dance the thing the way he told you to.  Not all the dances belong to Clara.  Not all the dances belong to the Prince.  COME ON.  There is actually a storyline to this ballet....

The music of The Nutcracker is some of my favorite.  I wait until the holidays to listen to it, but parts of it are in my head all year long.  I don't go see amateur versions of it put on by Mrs. So-and-So's ballet school because they pain me.  I am not a ballet snob, and although I took dance for 9 years, I do not pretend to be able to tell you what most of the moves on the stage are, so this isn't the reason I avoid grade-schoolers putting on The Nutcracker.  There's just something about a whole herd of toddlers in tutus bumping into each other that I don't find endearing, at least not in this situation. 

The best version I ever saw of it was done at IU.  It was a co-production of the School of Music and the ballet folk (I can't remember what school they fit under or if they have their own school...I think they do).  The sets and costumes were all made in-house as well by students, and so you really got to see fantastic stuff.  There was none of this holding back that I'm seeing in the version I'm currently watching that is irritating me so.  It was lovely, opulent, and everything that a ballet that is supposed to take place in a dream should be.  It followed the storyline.  There was imagination, but nobody felt the need to say, "Hey, there's this story that's a classic, but I'm going to throw it out the window, do my own thing, and just keep the name, ok? Thanks."

Don't think that I don't like variations.  One of my favorite adaptations is The Hard Nut.  It is as far from "tradition" as you can get, and yet, the story is preserved.  Here, there IS no storyline.  Anything could be happening except for the slightly scary-looking Chinese dancers.  They've lost the best thing about The Nutcracker: the rich fairy tale.  I don't like it.  Call me grumpy.  Call me narrowminded.  That's fine.  Just give me back a version that, at least in its most basic parts, follows the story!

Now.  I know you care deeply and are moved.  If you are still reading this at all, that is.  /rant