Modern ‘Nutcracker’ Adaptations Reflect History, Diversity

The ballet most Americans know today has changed quite a bit since its beginnings as a dark, sometimes violent story written by the German author E.T.A. Hoffmann in 1816. Hoffmann’s work, called "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King," told the tale of Marie, a young girl who grows up in a loveless, joyless house. When Marie’s godfather comes to visit and gives her a nutcracker doll as a gift, she becomes immersed in a fantasy world full of violent battles, curses and revenge. Hoffmann was part of a literary movement that explored the darker side of human nature and revealed people’s darkest secrets. His works inspired the famous American writer Edgar Allen Poe, among others.

Story is adapted, set to music

	Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, who wrote the music for 'The Nutcracker,' died before the ballet's success was fully realized.

The French writer Alexandre Dumas, who penned such classics as "The Count of Monte Cristo" and "The Three Musketeers", adapted Hoffmann’s story into a more cheerful tale called "The Nutcracker". His is the version that modern ballet audiences are most familiar.

In the early 1890s, the artistic staff at Russia’s National Ballet Theater chose to adapt Dumas’ version of "The Nutcracker" into a ballet. They decided to commission composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, who had already written hugely successful music for the ballet Sleeping Beauty, to write the musical score for The Nutcracker.

The Nutcracker ballet premiered on December 18, 1892 in St. Petersburg, Russia.  The first review of the ballet was lackluster, and Tchaikovsky reportedly thought the music he wrote for The Nutcracker was inferior to his score for Sleeping Beauty. He died in 1893, before the ballet became widely successful.

America’s love affair with The Nutcracker

	This photo is from the first performance of The Nutcracker in 1892. The ballet's themes of innocence and childhood especially resonate with American audiences.

Little by little, The Nutcracker ballet spread beyond Russia’s borders and was performed in the great capitals of Europe. The first full-length American performance didn’t take place until 1944, in San Francisco. Since then, Americans have come to love The Nutcracker and treasure it as a holiday tradition, more so than any other country.

New York Times critic Alastair Macauley recently embarked on a tour across the country to take in as many performances of The Nutcracker as possible in the course of a month. While he didn’t find a concrete reason why Americans love the ballet so much, he believes it embodies many of the themes and ideals Americans have come to cherish.

For example, The Nutcracker’s themes of “traveling into new terrain” and “innocence” resonate with the American people, as well as the childhood wonder and youthfulness that pervade the ballet.

Nutcrackers around the country

	The Baton Rouge ballet set its version of The Nutcracker in Cajun Louisiana.

Even though it’s tradition for many Americans to go see their area production of The Nutcracker every year, ballet companies across the country have chosen to put a local spin on the classic. The Nashville Ballet’s version is set during the Tennessee Centennial Exhibition in 1897, and in the Tucson Ballet’s adaptation, the nutcracker and his army fight coyotes instead of mice.

The Washington Ballet’s Nutcracker takes place in a Georgetown mansion in 1782, during the colonial era, and the second act takes place among the capital’s famous cherry blossoms. Septime Webre, the Washington Ballet’s artistic director, says placing The Nutcracker in a local setting speaks to the audience more effectively.

“I thought it would be wonderful for the ballet to reflect the people who are watching the production,” Webre told Voice of America. “I always think art is most powerful when people can see themselves in the work somehow.”

Some versions take on political, social issues

	Some groups, like the cast of "The Revolutionary Nutcracker Sweetie," pictured above, used 'The Nutcracker' to take on political and social issues.

Some performance groups are using The Nutcracker to take on political and social issues such as poverty and inequality. One production in San Francisco, called “The Revolutionary Nutcracker Sweetie,” casts the main character Clara as an undocumented Latina maid and has the Sugar Plum Fairy battling the King of British Petroleum. Another production set on New York City’s Lower East Side features a multicultural cast and sees Clara growing up in a home without a father.

“We are a political dance company in that we try to make work that is socially relevant, that is responding to the real ideas and real needs of people today in the community,” Krissy Keefer, writer and director of "The Revolutionary Nutcracker Sweetie,” told NPR.