The ballet's initial run ended in January 1893. When the Russian Revolution broke out in 1917, many ballet dancers were put out of work. They went to Europe. They talked to their new friends in Europe about "The Nutcracker". Some selections were performed here and there. In 1940 Walt Disney used some of the music in his movie "Fantasia". In 1944 the Nutcracker was staged at the San Francisco Ballet by William Christensen, the 'very first full-length' on Christmas Eve. W.Christensen was called the grandfather of American Ballet, born (1902-2001) in Brigham City, Utah. He had established the San Francisco Ballet in 1938. Later he founded the ballet department to the University of Utah in 1951, the first of its kind, and Ballet West in 1963. Mr. C's creation has an 75th Anniversary during the 2019-2020 season. In 1954 George Balanchine staged "The Nutcracker" in New York City. People liked it. When it was aired on television in 1957 and 1958, the ballet became more famous than ever. Balanchine's television "Nutcracker" had enough fun in it for people who had not seen a ballet, and enough dancing in it to please the ballet lovers who watched it. In the 1960s small ballet companies started producing "The Nutcracker" because it could make a lot of money and, in doing so, keep the company in business.
Today, "The Nutcracker" has been staged and seen by many people all over the world. Jennifer Fisher points out that it is "the most popular and most often [staged] ballet in the world." In North America, it is a yearly event in many places. Parents and children take part in staging the ballet and dancing in it. Trained ballerinas dance side by side with children who are only learning to dance. Parents work on costumes and sets. Local celebrities take small walk-on parts.
There have been many adaptations of the ballet over the years. In the United States, for example, there are hula, tap dance, reggae, wheelchair, dance-along, ice, and drag versions. In Canada, there have been hockey adaptations. Products such as Nutcracker dolls, soaps, foods, and clothing are sold in theatres before the show.
Ballet lovers question the present day dumbing-down (oversimplification) of "The Nutcracker" to make it accessible to the masses. The reasons the ballet was originally disliked in Russia (the many child dancers, the uneven story) seem to be the reasons the ballet has become such a great success in North America. Americans like seeing their children on stage and the story is very much like the rags-to-riches stories Americans love. Some people though complain about the stereotypes of children in Act 1 (boys are naughty, girls are nice) and also about the stereotypes of Arabians and the Chinese in Act 2.
Tchaikovsky wrote "The Nutcracker" for an orchestra of strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. To this orchestra he added a "celesta" for the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" in Act 2 and children's instrumentsdrums, trumpets, cymbals, bird calls, whistles, and a rattlefor the Christmas party in Act 1. The instruments were specially ordered and tuned to Tchaikovsky's orders. The rattle is heard in the orchestra pit when Fritz cracks nuts in Act 1, and the other instruments are heard when the boys make a lot of noise while Clara comforts the broken Nutcracker.
Tchaikovsky hoped that the children would play the instruments on the stage, but they had difficulty keeping together with the orchestra. Because of the difficulty the children had, Tchaikovsky made the decision that they could play freely. He did not ask them to keep with the written music. After the first night, Tchaikovsky sent his thanks and baskets of sweets to the children of the Imperial Ballet School.
The Sugar Plum Fairy is a character in "The Nutcracker". The Sugar Plum Fairy only dances in Act 2 of the ballet. Clara falls asleep, and the second act could be seen as Clara's dream. Roland John Wiley however, thinks that the second act is a reality shaped by Drosselmeyer. The Sugar Plum Fairy is the ruler of the Land of Sweets. She welcomes the Nutcracker Prince and his love Clara to her land and orders the festivities. The character is danced by a "prima ballerina" (principal dancer), though she has little dancing to do. She is joined by a male dancer for a "pas de deux" near the end of the ballet. Her number in this "pas de deux" is called "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy".
The "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" is one of the most famous numbers in "The Nutcracker". It was written for the "celesta". This instrument was new at the time the dance was written. It looks like a small piano, but it sounds like bells. Tchaikovsky discovered the "celesta" in Paris in 1891 while making a journey to the United States. His publisher purchased one and promised to keep the purchase a secret. Tchaikovsky did not want Rimsky-Korsakov or Glazunov to "get wind of it and ... use it for unusual (different, strange) effects before me." Petipa wanted the Sugar Plum Fairy's music to sound like drops of water splashing in a fountain. Tchaikovsky thought the "celesta" was the instrument to do this. The original steps for the dance are unknown. Antonietta Dell'Era was the first to dance the part of the Sugar Plum Fairy. The character has very little dancing to do so Dell'Era put a gavotte by Alphonse Czibulka into the ballet. She then had something more to do.
In his biography about Tchaikovsky John Warrack points out that the ballet's greatest weakness is its story. It did not permit Tchaikovsky to musically develop the ballet in the manner of "Swan Lake" or "The Sleeping Beauty". What few symphonic passages exist in the ballet (mostly in Act 1) are not the best Tchaikovsky wrote. Warrack thinks that the "essential nature" of the ballet is found in the separate numbers. Tchaikovsky knew this when he put together the "Nutcracker Suite" to promote the complete ballet. Because the story was so weak and did not permit symphonic development, Tchaikovsky indulged his taste for "prettiness" in the separate numbers. This is what makes "The Nutcracker", according to Warrack, an "entertainment of genius".
In the biography "Tchaikovsky", writer David Brown points out that Tchaikovsky was not happy with "The Nutcracker" and complained to his friends about the difficulty of setting the tale to music. Brown asks why Tchaikovsky would ever let himself be persuaded to accept the story as the subject for a ballet. He points out that "Swan Lake" and "The Sleeping Beauty" were "dramatically meaty and deeply serious" while "The Nutcracker" was "trite ... [and] pointless." The ballet has no true culmination he writes. He then asks, "What was it all about anyway? "The Nutcracker" is meaningless in the profoundest sense." He decides that the ballet is the "most inconsequential" of all the composer's mature works for theatre, and "its dramatic structure the least satisfactory." While Brown never gives his approval to "The Nutcracker", he thinks Tchaikovsky did a remarkable job despite the "appalling limitations of the subject."
Kingdom of Sophene
The Kingdom of Sophene (Armenian: Ծոփքի Թագավորութուն) was an ancient Armenian kingdom. Found sometime around the 3rd century B.C. the kingdom stayed independent until 90's B.C. when Tigranes the great conquered these territories as part of his empire.
The first records show that it was part of Urartu, later it became a province of the Armenian Kingdom around 600 BC.
Lady Katherine Grey
Lady Katherine Grey (25 August 1540 – 26 January 1568) was the sister to Lady Jane Grey and Lady Mary Grey. Her mother was Lady Frances Brandon and Henry Grey, who were Marquess and Marchioness of Dorset and later Duke and Duchess of Suffolk.
Katherine (also spelled Catherine) was born in 1540 to Lady Frances Brandon and Henry Grey. Her parents were disappointed that she was a girl. However, Frances treated Katherine better than she treated her sister, Lady Jane Grey. Little is known about Katherine's early life before 1550.