{"id":17304,"date":"2020-04-24T00:19:05","date_gmt":"2020-04-24T06:19:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/offtheshelfandonline.blog\/?p=17304"},"modified":"2020-05-02T20:24:55","modified_gmt":"2020-05-03T02:24:55","slug":"the-nutcracker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teaching-without-borders.org\/?p=17304","title":{"rendered":"The Nutcracker"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Written by Zeying Lang<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure retrieved from https:\/\/www-digitaltheatreplus-com.proxy2.library.illinois.edu\/education\/collections\/royal-opera-house\/the-nutcracker<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of the most famous ballet plays written by Pyotr Llyich Tchaikovsky in 1892, the Nutcracker, is presented by one of the greatest ballet companies, the Royal Ballet. Come to experience a magical night tour with Marie and the nutcracker. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Story of The Nutcracker<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On the Christmas Eve celebration ball, Marie and her families are welcoming the guests. Gifts pile up at the bottom of the Christmas tree. Children are dancing, and gaming. Then, Marie\ufffds godfather shows up. He gives her a wonderful gift — a wooden Nutcracker. At midnight, Marie falls asleep on the couch with her new gift, the Nutcracker. All of a sudden, a giant mouse followed by many mice, breaks into her house, and then everything disappears except the toy soldiers and the Nutcracker. Marie fights with the Mouse King, and when the Mouse King is killed by Marie, the ancient charm on Nutcracker breaks, and the Nutcracker becomes a handsome prince. Then, the prince brings Marie to his kingdom that is made of candies. In this world, all the toys are alive. Chinese tea, hot chocolate, coffee from Arabia, candy canes and mother ginger, and etc. Marie spends the happiest night with the prince in the candy kingdom. And as the dawn is close, Marie says goodbye to the prince and the friends she meets in the candy world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Screenshot from The Nutcracker (by Zeying Lang)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Screenshot from The Nutcracker (by Zeying Lang)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Setting and Movement Design <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The settings of the scene are gorgeous, and the character\ufffds costumes are exquisite. The first scene really impressed me. A giant Christmas tree is set in the middle of the stage with enormous gifts surrounded. The hearty food is on the table, and the visiting guests are dancing in the ballroom. As massive characters are presented in this scene, the atmosphere is warm and joyful. Each prop on the stage is detailed and vivid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other impressive scene is when Marie and the prince arrive at the Candy Kingdom, toys dance to welcome them. There are several duet dances in this scene and each is showing different styles and outstanding techniques. As the toys are from different parts of the world, the actors\ufffd movements are exotic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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