The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker premiered at the Maryinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia on December 18, 1892. The choreography was by Lev Ivanov after Marius Petipa, who, having fallen ill before beginning to choreograph, passed on his choreographic plan to Ivanov. The score was composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky who was initially reluctant to write the score, finding the libretto based on E.T.A. Hoffmann’s children’s tale, The Nutcracker and the King of the Mice, lacking in fantasy. Today, The Nutcracker’s delightful plot and timeless music have made it a perennial favourite and most companies hold a version in their repertoire, including the National Ballet of Canada.

Celia Franca choreographed a four-act version of The Nutcracker, which premiered at the Capitol Theatre in Quebec City on November 19, 1955. Kay Ambrose, who also designed over 25 other productions for the National Ballet, designed the sets and costumes. CBC filmed this production and it aired on December 23, 1958.

In 1964, the National Ballet re-envisioned The Nutcracker with new choreography by Celia Franca and new sets and costumes by Jürgen Rose. The production premiered on December 26, 1964 featuring Martine van Hamel and Frank Schaufuss as The Sugar Plum Fairy and Nutcracker Prince. The production cost approximately $100,000 and was at the time the most expensive theatrical production in Canada.

In 1992 The National Ballet of Canada toured to Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. The ballets performed included The Taming of the Shrew, Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. The company was joined by students from the Asami Maki Ballet/Tachibana Ballet School and Tomoi Homura Ballet School for performances of The Nutcracker in Japan.

Did you know celebrities have been performing The Nutcracker with The National Ballet of Canada since 1964? The walk-on roles of Stretcher Bearers in Celia Franca’s production and Cannon Dolls in James Kudelka’s version have been played by a host of Canadian personalities. Notable names include Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman, author Pierre Berton, Ron MacLean of CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada, Champion figure skater Kurt Browning, M.P. Olivia Chow, writer Margaret Atwood, Stephen Page of the Barenaked Ladies, CBC Radio’s Tom Allen and CBC Television personality Rick Mercer.

Much like the “Curse of the Clara’s” none of the dancers who played the role of Marie in James Kudelka’s The Nutcracker had gone on to dance the role of The Sugar Plum Fairy – until December 2011. First Soloist Elena Lobsabova who played Marie as a student of Canada’s National Ballet School in 1997 and 1998, made her debut as The Sugar Plum Fairy on December 17.