{"id":4664,"date":"2022-01-26T23:14:29","date_gmt":"2022-01-26T22:14:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/?p=4664"},"modified":"2022-01-26T23:33:43","modified_gmt":"2022-01-26T22:33:43","slug":"the-nutcracker-a-russian-ballet-best-performed-by-americans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/4664\/the-nutcracker-a-russian-ballet-best-performed-by-americans\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018 The Nutcracker\u2019 A Russian Ballet best performed by Americans"},"content":{"rendered":"

During the Christmas period, there is not much that makes Budapest particularly \u2018Christmassy\u2019 whatsoever. There is not a lot of decoration and the few things that are organized are so German influenced that even the advertisements in the city for it state \u2018Frohe Weihnachten.\u2019 What is noticeable are the many nutcrackers. You don\u2019t have to look far to see them show up in shop windows and posters. With the many opera houses and operetta in Budapest, it is thus unsurprising that \u2018the Nutcracker is a ballet that is prevalent here. The piece originates from the minds of composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and choreographer\u2019s Marius Petipa and Led Ivanov and has gained popularity all over the world. Let\u2019s see what makes the piece so magical and important to Budapest\u2019s street scene in the Budapest Operetta Theatre. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Welcomed by the more than friendly staff of the theater the entourage is perfect, not because it is \u2018outstandingly tasteful\u2019 but because the yellow faded photos of performers of the 20th century add a lot of atmosphere to a Theater like this. The operetta is modest but beautifully built and the wear of the stage curtain is not bothersome at all but rather adds a comfiness to the mid-sized theater. From the balcony, I have a clear view of the orchestra situated in front of the stage but not visible to the public that is not seated higher up. The orchestra makes ready to play one of Tchaikovsky\u2019s signature pieces as the rest of the auditorium fills with a crowd that varies widely in age. It is remarkable how many children are present, considering it is a 3.5-hour performance. The theater is also filled to the last seat, something that would not be that extraordinary weren\u2019t it for the fact that by the time of writing, the Omicron variant was cause for a lot of global concern. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/b>But was it good?<\/b>
\n<\/b>
\n<\/b>Even though I very much appreciate your trust in the opinion of this 21 year old Journalist I must admit that this was the first ballet I ever attended. Thus my opinion is based on this experience and a lot of desk research alone. Therefore I consulted former chief dance critic of \u2018The New York Times\u2019\u00a0 Alastair Macauly to interpret my experiences. Not really knowing what to expect the performance was intriguing but not a lot of former experience was needed to realize that the surprising introduction of spider man was not written into the original iteration of the ballet. \u201cSome of the most experimental things on paper actually turn out to be fun, although for sure not all of them. A perfect representation with that is frankly impossible\u201d Macaulay points out. \u201cWe simply do not know the exact choreography of some of the dances from the original\u201d Keeping the article \u201810 Ways to Tell if Your \u2018Nutcracker\u2019 Is Traditional\u2019 as my guideline, I noticed a lot of elements in the Operetta\u2019s Nutcracker that check the boxes of the critics. They for example have talented child ballet dancer\u2019s who really were able to communicate the nervousness, anticipation and joy of Christmas eve a child can experience. They were good dancers and acted impressively well in their facial expressions. Their stage presence already makes me doubt if the same can be achieved in a version without child dancers which is the case in some versions.<\/span>
\n<\/span>\"\"<\/p>\n

Missed chance?<\/b>
\n<\/span>Unfortunately the Pantomime dame was not present in this iteration of \u2018the Nutcracker\u2019. This character should bring a bit of edginess to the piece to contrast the sweetness of the part before it \u2018the dance of the Mirlitons\u2019 . There is a distinct difference in the American versions and European versions of the Ballet in that this character is left out in most European versions. Surprising to me at first because generally in many forms of performance and film Europeans be less prudish than the Americans -because I doubt keeping your bra on during sex is something American woman actually do- Macaulay things it has to do with the expectation and integration in culture of the piece. \u201cIn Europe going to \u2018 the Nutcracker’ seems a bit deinty and when Europeans come to see the ballet they expect it to be <\/span>Refined<\/span><\/i>. And while a lot of the Ballet is refined and pretty, in my opinion that is only amplified by the contrast with the character of the Pantomime dame. The vulgarity in the music makes the beauty of the other parts even stronger\u201d Maybe though it should not be expected of a Hungarian small Opera house to make the step of putting a character in the piece that is intended to be performed by a a man \u2018drag\u2019 as a woman. In a country where the national government implemented an \u2018anti LGBTQ propaganda law\u2019 on 7 July 2021 such a step would not only be very unlikely, but also straight up illegal.\u00a0 <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>This hesitant stance of Europeans and Russians towards the piece also makes those pieces generally underwhelming compared to the American versions according to Macaulay \u201cThe \u2018grandeur\u2019,impudence and straight up fun of the piece make it particularly well suited for American performances. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>With the conclusion that \u2018The Nutcracker\u2019 is a Russian ballet supposedly best performed by the Americans I continue my journey as a junior dance critic, and with an ever evolving performance like \u201cthe Nutcracker there is plenty to write about.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Source:Budapest Operetta Theatre<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During the Christmas period, there is not much that makes Budapest particularly \u2018Christmassy\u2019 whatsoever. There is not a lot of decoration and the few things that are organized are so German influenced that even the advertisements in the city for it state \u2018Frohe Weihnachten.\u2019 What is noticeable are the many nutcrackers. You don\u2019t have to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":347,"featured_media":4665,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[257],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018 The Nutcracker\u2019 A Russian Ballet best performed by Americans - International Journalism<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/internationaljournalism\/4664\/the-nutcracker-a-russian-ballet-best-performed-by-americans\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018 The Nutcracker\u2019 A Russian Ballet best performed by Americans - International Journalism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"During the Christmas period, there is not much that makes Budapest particularly \u2018Christmassy\u2019 whatsoever. 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