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How the Original Designs Of The Bolshoi Nutcracker Shaped the Ballet World



Wright staged a new version of the ballet in 1990, when the Sadler Wells Royal Ballet moved to Birmingham and became the Birmingham Royal Ballet under his direction. For this production, Wright departed more freely from the 1892 original than in his 1984 Royal Ballet production. In this version, the fantasy sequences are once again a dream, Clara is a ballet student, and her mother is a former ballerina.[57] The production has been particularly praised for John Macfarlane's set designs.[58][59] In 1994, this version was filmed, starring Irek Mukhamedov as the Nutcracker Prince, Sandra Madgwick as Clara, and once again, Miyako Yoshida as the Sugar Plum Fairy, and was released on DVD by Kultur International Films (as of this writing, Ms. Yoshida has danced the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy more times on video than any other dancer). However, this Birmingham Ballet production has never been telecast in the U.S.


The film Nutcracker: The Motion Picture (referred to in the film credits as Pacific Northwest Ballet's Nutcracker) is a feature film based on Kent Stowell's 1983 production of The Nutcracker with sets and costume designs by Maurice Sendak and narration by Julie Harris as the adult voice of Clara. Directed by Carroll Ballard, it was released nationwide in the U.S. on Thanksgiving Day, in 1986.[97] As in the stage version, Clara was played by a young girl (Vanessa Sharp) during the Christmas party and the Battle with the Mice, and an adult dancer (Patricia Barker) throughout the remainder of the ballet (until Clara awakens from her dream). The Nutcracker and the Nutcracker Prince were also played by two dancers in the film: Jacob Rice before the toy's transformation into a Prince, and Wade Walthall throughout the rest of the film. The "Overture" shows Drosselmeyer in his workshop coming up with the idea for and then actually creating/building his special Christmas present. This version introduces hints of sexual tension between Clara and Drosselmeyer; during the Christmas Party, Clara is visibly uneasy around Drosselmeyer, who seems to be leering at her, and at one point even shrinks from his touch. In the dream sequence, there is an obvious rivalry between the Pasha (Drosselmeyer's dream counterpart) and the Nutcracker Prince as the Pasha tries to get Clara to sit with him, against the wishes of the Nutcracker Prince. The ending of the film departs from the stage version. As Clara and her Prince slowly swirl around wrapped in each other's arms while the Apotheosis plays, the Pasha magically levitates them higher and higher into the air as the other dancers wave goodbye. Suddenly, the jealous Pasha points his finger at the couple, which magically causes them to let go of each other. They suddenly begin to freefall, and the Prince again becomes a nutcracker. Just as both are about to hit the ground and presumably be seriously injured or killed, Clara (a young girl again) is jolted awake from her dream.[97] In the film, the Final Waltz is heard during the closing credits (although the Apotheosis is performed during the last moments of the ballet). Drosselmeyer is sleeping at his work desk (with the presumption that the dream was not Clara's but his), on which we see the dancers performing the waltz.




Original Designs Of The Bolshoi Nutcracker



David Linley, a carved and painted wood nutcracker in the form of a soldier in a blue tunic, tall black hat, standing on circular green base, 40cm high, in original 'Linley' branded box with tissue paper


FOUR BOXES AND LOOSE TREEN, METALWARES AND SUNDRY ITEMS, to include a Victorian walnut veneer footstool with inlaid banding and beaded floral decoration (damage to veneer and only part of the original beadwork remaining), a box of two early twentieth century hand decorated candles, a large Bell's Scotch Whisky bottle height 50cm, boxed Bell's Whisky decanter, Hine Cognac bottle and Ind Coope Presentation Ale bottles, a boxed military drum ice bucket, boxed and sealed Elizabeth Arden Red Door body powder 150g, 1970s wooden troll nutcracker and two wooden Viking figures, a vintage Hughes Family Scale with pan, a picnic set with Thermos Flask in a fitted case etc (sd) (4 BOXES + LOOSE)


Based on the choreography of Sergey Vlasov, a veteran of the Bolshoi who was the Moscow Ballet's original lead dancer, the "Great Russian" production is known for its lavish costumes and striking, rolling sets. This year, both have been upgraded, Talmi said, with new costumes by Broadway veteran Arthur Oliver and set designs by Carl Sprague, the concept illustrator for Wes Anderson's movie "The Grand Budapest Hotel."


As I have already described the music and general background of each movement in my review of Barry Douglas' performance of Pictures at an Exhibition, I will not reiterate my comments on this page, but will instead provide some of the background material that I have been able to ferret out concerning the pictures themselves.This picture shows one of Hartmann's costume designs for a revival of Glinka's opera Russlan and Ludmilla. The evil wizard Chernomor wears a turban crowned by a bat, and bears a staff on which is perched an owl. The opera was performed with Hartmann's designs in 1871 at the Maryinsky theatre in St Petersburg.The menacing figure of Chernomor provides distant echoes of The Gnome, Mussorgsky's first "picture" in the suite, which was based on a design for a toy nutcracker. Hartmann's original design has long since vanished.Hartmann drew 17 costume and set designs for the ballet Trilby, four of which are extant. This is the sketch that inspired Mussorgsky's Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks.Trilby was first performed at the Bolshoi in 1871, with choreography by Marius Petipa and music by Julius Gerber, both celebrities in their day. The plot was loosely based on a short story by the French author Charles Nodier titled "Trilby, or the Elf of the Argyle", published in 1822 (there is no relation to DuMaurier's ballet Trilby, which appeared in 1895). Petipa moved the setting from Scotland to Switzerland, and made other substantive changes as well. The title was changed to "Trilby, the Demon of the Hearth". The ballet featured children from the Russian Imperial Ballet School dressed variously as birds, butterflies and, as in this sketch, chicks still in their eggs.


In 1985, dancer-choreographer Peter Wright created a new production heavily based on the 1892 Ivanov original. The Mother Ginger and her Clowns dance, however, was omitted from this production. It was presented at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where it is periodically revived, and it was first shown on television by A&E, with actress Joan Fontaine serving as host.[42] Notable for its elaborate set designs recalling a typical nineteenth-century stage work, the production was revived in 2001, videotaped with a mostly new cast, and again presented on television (this time by PBS, on Great Performances.). This second edition was hosted by Julie Andrews.[43]


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