Tchaikovsky's 'The Nutcracker'

Take Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker,” set it in a 1960’s U.S. suburbia, remove the Sugar Plum Fairy and add sexual and homosexual overtones, and you have Mark Morris’s “The Hard Nut” – an adaptation of the original ballet inspired by the comic book artist, Charles Burns, whose work is “deeply instilled with archetypal concepts of guilt, childhood, mystery, adolescent sexuality and poignant portrayals of post-war America” (The Hard Nut: A Look Back). Morris’s story can be described as the background story for “The Nutcracker.” In “The Hard Nut,” Drosselmeyer tells Marie the story of how a beautiful princess is cursed into ugliness by a mousequeen but is rescued by Drosselmeyer’s nephew, who turns into the nutcracker that Marie later comes …show more content…
At the same time, Morris’s casting communicates a powerful message that debunks the stereotype that only female dancers can be graceful and that only male dancers can be strong. The message reflects one that our society continues to struggle with today – we should not allow stereotypes to warp our judgments. Instead, we should accept the fact that there are females and males, but we should not assign roles to females and males based on stereotypes. Morris recognized that snowflakes have no gender, so he assigned both male and female dancers to dance in the “Waltz of the Snowflakes.” In so doing, Morris modernized “The Nutcracker” and made it reflect reality and the thinking of today. After all, no one ever identifies a snowflake as male or female. In casting both male and female dancers in the waltz, Morris made a statement, saying that he will not perpetuate stereotypes and shows the audience that we should not hold on to stereotypes either.
Everyone experiences, at some point, a coming of age transition, and stereotyping is something that our society subscribed to in the past and continues to perpetuate through the media today. Because of this, Morris’s message is relevant to modern society and will continue to be an important one for the …show more content…
In Morris's “Waltz of the Snowflakes”, the Corp dances with a mixture of pointe and bare feet. He uses specific dance moves from traditional ballet such as grand jetes, burres, and releves with the leg extended at 90 degrees behind them throughout the dance, but his version is much more diverse than the original in that it includes non-traditional ballet forms; the dancers are not always in unison; their arms are not always stretched out completely but sometimes seem to resemble a kind of flapping. To add to this, the dancers continuously throw confetti into the air as they twirl across the stage to simulate a snow blizzard. This mixed arrangement of movements contribute to making the dance both funny and touching at the same time. Morris’s use of contemporary dancing and ballet allows him to create a number that is somewhat confusing and funny. He dresses his dancers in silver and blue tutus, a silver crop top, and a hat that looks like the top of an ice cream soft serve, adding to the humor of the dance because not only are the dancers supposed to be snowflakes, but also they are supposed to be light and fluffy. At time 4:45 - 5:05, we can see the dancers doing grand jetes across the stage while releasing white confetti at the exact moment that the music reaches its climax. The