Since the fifties , many Americans ca n’t really call it Christmas until they carry up the car , head up to the theatre , and chirk up on their little danseuse in her first yield ofThe Nutcracker Ballet . In honor of all those devoted siblings , parents , and other relative , here ’s some trivia to keep you awake until the snow bunting dance onstage .
1. Tools of the trade
The first nutcrackers were little more than pitted stone " “ more " nutsmashers" than " nutcrackers" " “ date stamp back 4,000 to 8,000 yr ago . Metal nutcracker date back to the third or quaternary century B.C.E. , with iron reading popping up in thirteenth one C France . The soldier - style most commonly see today issue in Germany around 1830 , earning a mention from the Brothers Grimm in their lexicon . Making these small cat is no easy task ; most nutcracker contain more than 40 distinct part . The wood for the dolls has to come from sure altitude , as a low - growing tree will have wider rings and soft wood , and a Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree from higher elevations will be too severe to determine . Once choose , the Mrs. Henry Wood is aged outdoors for several years , than indoors for several more . Then the wood is rounded , lathed , drilled , sandpaper , paint and tack together together . While most nutcracker stand about 17" high , the existence ’s large working nutcracker stands an unbelievable 19'3". It ’s so monumental , it can snap coconuts !
2. Of course, there’s an easier way to make a “Nutcracker"
This sweet , chilly beverage makes a big alternative to eggnog . Take ½ loving cup of ice , 1 oz . of vodka , a max of vanilla methamphetamine hydrochloride pick , and ½ oz . each of Bailey ’s , Amaretto , and Frangelico . Dump everything into a blender and mix until creamy .
3. E.T.A. Hoffmann: one unlikely children’s story author
4. Nutcrackers have a lot in common with swashbucklers
About thirty years after its initial publication , Hoffmann ’s narration was revise by Alexander Dumas ( yes , Three MusketeersDumas ) , whose adaptation was the decidedly cheerier , but not virtually as well - titled , " The Tale of the Hazelnut - cracker bonbon . “ Dumas ’s taradiddle off much of the complexity of Hoffmann ’s version , perhaps as a by - product of pitiable translation . Though Dumas admired Hoffmann , the Frenchman was not adept at the German language . It is undecipherable if he ordered a translation of Hoffmann ’s floor to work from , or tramp through on his own . Dumas also added several spiritual reference to the tale , recast Marie ’s babe as a comical governess , and soften Godfather Drosselmayer into an adoring guardian , rather than an ambivalent tutor . Still , it was this water - down version that prompted Ivan Alexandrovitch Vsevolojsky to call on Marius Petipa and Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky " “ the dynamical duo behind the balletSleeping looker " “ to createThe Nutcracker of Nuremberg .
5. If you believe in fairies, clap your hands
Neither writer can take the credit for creating the Sugarplum Fairy , now considered one of the stars of the narration . That award goes to Petipa . The noted choreographer originally refuse to be involved with theNutcrackerproject . The lead role was a seven - year - old small fry , hardly fitting for a prima ballerina , and there were no major distaff characters to come with the Nutcracker in apas de deux , a section essential to classical concert dance . In desperation , Vsevolojsky told his choreographer to pen a Modern section entirely . Petipa set to work and return with the Sugarplum Fairy , ruler of the Land of Sweets ( itself an plus to the narrative ) , and a million pink - tutued dreaming were stand .
6. I’d like a sugarplum, hold the plum
The full term sugarplum can intend either a sugary candy resemble a plum ( made by layering syrup repeatedly over flavored seeds like aniseed or Carum carvi ) or a piece of candied fruit , most often raisins or currant . Even after sugar refinery open up in London in the 1540s , the sugared material was too costly for all but the wealthiest family . Out - of - season fruits were also beyond the means of most family . Thus , sugar - preserved fruits became a vacation binge . The Christmas connexion was solidify in 1823 with the publication of " A Visit from St. Nick,“ more commonly acknowledge as " ' Twas the Night Before Christmas . “ The poem , assign to Clement Clark Moore , contains the famous line " The children were nestled all snug in their beds while visions of sugarplums danced in their forefront . “ While there is little grounds to brook the theory , some believe the definitive Christmas tale was the inspiration for Petipa ’s own terpsichore sugarplum nearly 70 years later .
7. Sure, the music is great, but you can’t dance to it
Just as Petipa had misgivings about choreograph the concert dance , Tchiakovsky was n’t thrilled about scoring it . He feel Petipa ’s rewrite did n’t exit him much to work with . Still , there was pay involved , so Tchiakovsky quickly hammered out a score and settled back into the more authoritative task of make his operaIolanthe . Even with the addition of the celesta — the instrument that cave in the Sugarplum Fairy her signature phone — Tchiakovsky wrote thatThe Nutcracker Suitewas " boundlessly poorer" thanSleeping Beauty . hearing thought otherwise . When the euphony premiered in March 1892 ( eight month before the finished ballet ) , the crew demanded immediate encore for at least six of the selections . Curiously , the ballet did not do as well . One early critique states " For social dancer there is rather little in it , for art utterly nothing , and for the aesthetic fate of our concert dance , one more step downwards . “ Needless to say , the reviews improved .
8. Fine, you can dance to it, but it’d make a terrible movie
When Walt Disney and his squad start body of work on the concert filmFantasia , they take mostly program euphony — instrumental euphony that suggests a story . But rather than animate the composer ' intended visions , the Disney group came up with their own . ForThe Nutcracker , the animator turned to nature for inspiration , incorporate goldfish , leaves , flowers , mushrooms , and , uh , pouf into the segment ( hey , this is Disney we ’re talking about ) . In this agency , The Nutcracker Suitebecame an illustration for the changing seasons . Like the concert dance , the 1940 film was not an immediate success . The lacklustre consultation response , combined with World War II and go up overseas price , prevent Disney from achieve his sight of release a redesign version every year . Instead , more than half a century passed before a newfangled installing saw the sparkle of day . The film has seen substantiation in recent years , however ; it outrank at # 58 on the American Film Institute ’s tilt of 100 Greatest Movies , and # 5 on AFI ’s Top 10 Animated Films .
9. Nutcrackers make useful plot devices
In Mark Twain’sThe Prince and the Pauper , a prince meet a poor son with whom he shares a spectacular resemblance . The prince sway his doppelganger to trade places for a few days . The switch proves poorly - time , however , as the king yield to illness and dies , leaving the prince to inherit the tip . On coronation day , the boy essay to convince the court of their trick , but the deception is so complete , no one believe them . Where does a nuthatch come up into play ? It ’s really a deus ex machina : the courtier take that the true prince will make love the placement of the majestic seal , missing from its habitual hiding seat . Just when it seems that the truthful heir will populate out his days in a dungeon , the pauper press the prince to remember the last matter he did before leaving the palace . An consultant is send out and returns with the sealskin , recover from a suit of armor in the prince ’s chamber . So why did n’t the pauper just say where the sealing wax was the first clock time ? He did n’t eff what it was . The poor kid had usurp it was a machine for " “ you guessed it " “ break through screwball .
10. Nutcrackers = tourist trap
11. The24tie-in, a.k.a. Jack Bauer looks good in tights
Chelsea Collier is an actor / writer / trivia junkie presently living in Illinois . She studied Shakespeare in grad school and uses the word " gormandizing " whenever possible .
