This presentation is a part of our World Ballet Classics Series knows as “Ballet & Identity Talks with Elena Alexandra“.
In this presentation we tell you the story of the ballet Nutcracker, its history, music, & choreography. We will show you masterpieces from this ballet and will share behind the scenes story of two principal dancers: Denis Rodkin & Eleonora Sevenard
The Nutcracker is a beloved Christmas ballet, known for its enchanting music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and its whimsical story. It tells the tale of a young girl’s magical Christmas Eve adventure. The Nutcracker explores themes of childhood, imagination, transformation, bravery, and the joy of the holiday season. Check our event page for schedule.
Eleonora Sevenard
Eleonora Sevenard is graduated from Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet and she is a principal dancer at Bolshoi Theatre since 2023. She is considered one of the most promising young dancers of her generation and is widely regarded as a future star of the Bolshoi Ballet.
There is a curious sidenote to Sevenard’s blossoming career. She is the great-great-grand-niece of Mathilde Kschessinska (1872-1971), the prima ballerina assoluta of the Imperial Russian Ballet who was also the mistress of the future Tsar Nicholas II – the crown prince was 22 and Mathilde just 17.
Denis Rodkin
Denis Rodkin is a principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow and is known for his leading roles in many famous ballets, powerful technique, handsome classical lines, and stage presence. Rodkin was voted “The Best Dancer of the Year 2016” by the Italian Danza & Danza magazine.
Denis’s life partner is Eleonora Sevenard who is also a principle dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet. They have performed together in The Nutcracker at the Bolshoi Theatre.
The Story – Act I
ACT I
It is Christmas Eve in a small town in Germany, in the 1820s. In the town square, the mysterious Drosselmeier presents a performance in his Children’s Street Theatre and then hurries off to the Silberhaus’ Christmas party with his gifts.
Family and friends gather at the Silberhaus’ home to celebrate Christmas. The children are excited to receive Christmas gifts. Clara and her brother Fritz’s favorite uncle, Herr Drosselmeier, arrives late.
Drosselmeier is entertaining the children with a toy theatre and a mechanical ballerina and harlequin dolls. The children are delighted and eagerly ask him for more. Drosselmeier presents his favorite creation, the wooden Nutcracker
Clara immediately falls in love with the Nutcracker and begs Drosselmeier to make it life-size. As the party winds down the Governess escorts Clara and Fritz to their rooms. Clara is too excited to sleep as she recalls her Nutcracker left under the Christmas tree. She sneaks back to the living room to find him and falls asleep on the sofa.
The clock strikes midnight Clara awakens to find her living room filled with mice! Drosselmeier appears to rescue Clara and he magically makes the house and the Christmas tree grow. He then grants Clara’s wish for a life-size Nutcracker, and her Nutcracker Prince appears.
The Nutcracker Prince and his tin soldiers battle the mischievous mice. The monstrous Mouse King appears and Clara, frightened, throws her slipper at him enabling the Nutcracker Prince to slay the Mouse King.
The grateful Nutcracker Prince invites Clara to join him on a journey through the Magical Forest, where they meet the Snow King and Queen and see the Snowflakes dance. Clara and the Nutcracker Prince continue on their journey as they travel on a cloud to the Kingdom of the Sweets.
ACT II
The Kingdom of the Sweets
Clara and the Nutcracker Prince arrive at the Kingdom of the Sweets, where the Sugar Plum Fairy reigns. The Nutcracker Prince tells the court how Clara saved his life. In gratitude, the Sugar Plum Fairy presents Clara with a crown, and festivities commence in Clara’s honor.
Showcasing international flair, Spanish Chocolate performs with passion and flourish. Arabian Coffee mesmerizes the court, followed by the playful Chinese Tea, and a sweet French Marzipan. The spectacular Russians Troika entertain and Dewdrop and her Flowers dance a lilting waltz.
The Sugar Plum Fairy and the Nutcracker Prince honor Clara with a grand pas de deux, and the entire court joins in the finale. As the night goes on and the dream continues, the pages of the Kingdom guide Clara on her journey back home.
Clara awakens, disoriented, on the living room couch. Cradling her Nutcracker doll, she remembers, and wonders…was this all a dream?
Credits
The story of Nutcracker posted by Boston Ballet
Bolshoi dancer, a descendant of the Tsar’s ballerina lover, to dance in Rome
Photos: New York City Ballet
Photo: Drosselmeyer presents the Nutcracker – San Francisco Ballet. Photograph by Erik Tomasson
Photo: Flowers dance – Richmond Ballet performs “The Nutcracker” at the Carpenter Theatre Dec. 8-24.
