For many families, it just doesn’t feel like the holidays without The Nutcracker. This year marks the 10th staging of Kansas City Ballet Artistic Director Devon Carney’s The Nutcracker, a cherished holiday tradition that has twice been performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington. Catch it at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts Nov. 28 through Dec. 24. Even the most devoted fans may be surprised by a few of these lesser-known facts:
- Darker Origins: The ballet is inspired by E.T.A. Hoffmann’s 1816 tale “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” a darker story with a fiercer battle and a seven-headed Mouse King.
- Swan Song: The Nutcracker was Tchaikovsky’s final ballet. He died less than a year after its 1892 premiere, long before it became a holiday staple.
- Meet Marie: Clara wasn’t always Clara. In Hoffmann’s story, the heroine is named Marie, and Clara is the name of her doll.
- Lucky Charm: In German folklore, nutcrackers are said to protect the home and bring good luck.
- Secret Sound: The shimmering, bell-like sound in “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” comes from the celesta, a keyboard instrument that strikes metal plates instead of strings. Tchaikovsky discovered it in Paris and had it shipped to Russia in secret so no other composer could use it first.
- Student Stars: As many as 175 Kansas City Ballet School students help bring the story to life, in roles ranging from mice in the battle scene to flowers in “Waltz of the Flowers.”
- Handcrafted Sparkle: The Sugar Plum Fairy’s tutu sparkles with 254 stones and velvet leaves hand-pressed over a fire.
- Big Skirt: Mother Ginger stands 10 feet tall, a puppet powered by a dancer inside.
- Sky High: The Christmas tree grows to 28 feet, nearly three stories tall.
- Paper Snow: About 50 pounds of specially coated, cut paper fall as snow at every performance.
Ready to see the magic up close? Weekends and matinees sell quickly, so get your tickets today.
Header image: Kansas City Ballet Dancers in The Nutcracker. Photo by Brett Pruitt & East Market Studios.
