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The Nutcracker is a ballet in two acts, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa with music composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The ballet premiered in 1892. The story is adapted from E. T. A. Hoffman’s story, “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.” Interestingly, the premiere was part of a double bill with the opera “Iolanta.” The original choreography has all but completely disappeared. Presently, schools and ballet companies around the world have their own productions, with story and choreography mostly of their own. Several versions are presently considered the ones to copy by most ballet schools; they are the Balanchine version. It’s this version that is responsible for the Nutcracker craze in the United States. Also, one must include the Royal Ballet version, the Mariinsky Ballet version, and, perhaps, the Bolshoi Ballet version. So, you can see that The Nutcracker ballet is not really a ballet but rather a score to which choreographers all over the world and of unmeasurable abilities have used to offer to their holiday public.

KMAB version: This version of The Nutcracker was first choreographed in 1990 for me (Mark Mejia), who danced the role of Nutcracker Prince and Drosselmeier, and Linda Kintz, who danced the role of Clara. There were only children in the march. The story was more or less a coming-of-age dream brought on by her uncle, Dr. Drosselmeier.

I believe that Tchaikovsky took what might be considered an infantile subject and revealed a world of magic found only in the sub-conscience of children. The score makes use of toy instruments, a children’s choir, the celeste (new at the time), and orchestration of symphonic proportions, particularly in the Grand Pas de Deux. To me, this music suggests a journey, not to the land of sweets, but to adulthood.

Like all classical ballets, the story is there to provide a reason to dance. Artistry is found in the classical ballet aesthetic. Ballet training creates a body capable of what we refer to as a vocabulary (you could say, a language). How this poetry of movement is composed and performed is where the value of the art form lives. Of course, a dancer with wonderful acting abilities is entertaining. However, it is in the delivery of our “vocabulary” that dancer, choreographer, scenic designer, costumer, set builder, lighting designer, conductor, and repetiteur work to deliver a work of art. In the preparation of this and in all ballets the aforementioned artists are concerned that the action of the ballet is coherent, understandable, relatable, and beautiful.

Thank you,

Mark Mejia

Artistic Director