It’s a cold winter’s evening in St. Peterburg, Russia, December 18th, 1892. Czar Alexander III is in attendance to see the double premier of Tchaikovsky’s opera, “Iolanta” and ballet based off of the German short story, “The Nutcracker”. The scenes are as dreamlike as the plot, with gossamer gowns and nightmarish fiends supported by melodic strains and brassy bellows. But, although it is a Christmas classic today, not everyone was pleased by its first performance. A critic in the St. Petersburg Gazette called it, “the most tedious thing I have ever seen.”, and even Tchaikovsky himself said, “It seemed to me that the public did not like it…They were bored.” The composer died a year later, thinking his ballet was a total flop. Little did he know that his ballet would come to be, perhaps, the most beloved and widely known ballet and a Christmas classic to be enjoyed for many generations. But how did this come to be?
Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky and the Czar
In his like, Tchaikovsky produced many compositions for ballets and operas which are still famous to this day and mark his as one of the best composers to ever live. Beyond The Nutcracker, he also composed Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty, both of which are two of the most popular ballets performed today. His 1812 Overture and Romeo and Juliet Overture Fantasy are two more of his most famous compositions.
Tchaikovsky like many other composers, playwrights, and artists, was funded by royalty to create art that pleased the Czar and glorified Russia. This practice was common in many countries, like Mozart with Austrian monarchs or French playwrights with the French government, similar to how the arts are often publicly funded and privately funded by wealthy donors. Take it from a former theatre director, art is expensive, and it takes time to create that most working-class people cannot afford. However, the result of this practice means that art, which by its nature pushes boundaries and holds up a mirror to the world around it opening critical conversations around power structures, like the monarchy, is weakened in its ability to critique.
Czar Alexander III conferred upon Tchaikovsky the title of Order of Saint Vladimir, making him hereditary nobility, in 1884. In 1885, the Czar commissioned Tchaikovsky to create Eugene Onegin. He was later elevated to the status of premier court composer. Tchaikovsky’s work in The Nutcracker, a story that uplifts royalty and military power reflects this relationship to the Czar and elevated social status in a monarchal system. Furthermore, the play displays characters like “Arabian” and “Chinese”, as well as the Slavic dance native to Ukraine and Poland, as symbols of Russian power and wealth. The ballet, and Tchaikovsky as a famous composer, displays St. Petersburg’s position as a cultural capital of Europe.
The Russian Revolution
With the onset of the Russian Revolution in 1905 came mass emigration from Russia, including the dancers of the Maryinsky theatre in St. Petersburg, where the Nutcracker was performed. The original Nutcracker prince, Sergei Legat, was killed and the rest of the dancers scattered across Europe. However, it was this immigration to other countries that would not only keep the Nutcracker alive but make it thrive for generations to come. In 1927, Budapest had a performance of the ballet, in 1934 it reached London, and in 1944 it was being produced in San Francisco with original choreography.
It was in 1954 when The Nutcracker really took off with American audiences. George Balanchine resurrected the play he had learned at the Maryinsky theatre as a young boy, bringing his Russian training and revolutionary ideas to the stage. He insisted upon a cast of equal numbers of white dancers and dancers of color on stage, something that even modern productions are yet to achieve. However, there are new ideas taking flight to transform themes of orientalism in the ballet into something that celebrates various cultures.
The Nutcracker Today
Embed from Getty ImagesToday, The Nutcracker accounts for about 48% of a ballet company’s annual revenue, making it possible to perform a wide variety of plays of various notoriety throughout the season. But it is incredibly important that a play that is so many people’s only window into the world of ballet reflects the values of that world. For this reason, many ballet companies are pursuing new ways of portraying characters like “Arabian” and “Chinese” to celebrate other cultures rather than stereotyping them.
For example, Seattle’s Pacific Northwest Ballet performed Balachine’s traditional choreography, but has recostumed and renamed the male lead in its celebration of tea as “The Green Tea Cricket.” Phil Chan, a critic of stereotypical portrayals of Asians in ballet states, ““Crickets are a potent Chinese symbol of hope and good luck and spring. To Chinese people they’re a beautiful symbol that fits what is happening in ‘The Nutcracker’ but it’s not cliche. It’s not another dragon dance with a fan and kung fu kicks.”
The Royal Ballet got rid of the “Arabian” and “Chinese” scenes all together, but the Scottish Ballet stated, “Following ongoing consultancy, the Chinese and Arabian-inspired divertissements in The Land of Sweets will have updated costumes and choreography to remove elements of caricature and better represent the culture and traditions which have inspired them.”
Final Thoughts
Yesterday, I was lucky enough to get to see my first production of The Nutcracker by Dance Alive Ballet Company in Gainesville, Florida. The dancers, costume designers, set designers, and Tchaikovsky’s music created an experience as reminiscent of a dream as the story itself. The ballet is brimming with Christmas cheer and winter wonder. Tchaikovsky is my favorite composer, and it was delightful to witness his work in its original artform. My genuine hope is that roles like Arabian and Chinese can be adapted to create opportunities for dancers of various racial and ethnic backgrounds to express their cultures to audiences around the world.
For me it was actually the imagery of the red, nutcracker army against the evil rats that sparked my curiosity in the ballet’s connection to the Russian Revolution, and I was intrigued to learn of the ironic influence the revolt has had on the popularity of the play. My heart goes out to those in Ukraine, whose county inspired the Slavic dance, one of my favorite scenes in the ballet, who are unable to enjoy the ballet or who are boycotting it in the fight against Russian invasion. Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all, and I hope all are as lucky as I am to experience such cheer this holiday season.
The Citrus Peel 
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