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Christmas time has come again...and along with it are the songs of Christmas. I think that if you start thinking of those melodies, you are going to start humming the March of the Nutcracker Suite. Once it's in your head, it's hard to get it out again! I remember my parents scraping up the money to take us to see the ballet when I was a young girl. We sat in the very last row of the theater. But that didn't bother us. We dressed up and enjoyed the performance. So, get inspired by the Nutcracker Suite/song/story/melodytoday.
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If you are new to the challenges, please feel free to do this one or ANY of the challenges at any time. There is no time limit. They are not races to see who can do one first, nor are they contests of any sort. All the challenges are simply to provide inspiration and to get us stamping!
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Great idea, Dawn!! I'm gonna hafta play, as my darling daughter will be appearing for the SEVENTH year in a row in Ballet West's Nutcracker this year!! It is sooo much a part of our family's Christmas tradition ... we LOVE it!!
Oh NO Dawn. I want to play along today but am at a severe handicap as I have NEVER seen this play and of all the images I have not 1 nutcracker image. gggrrr Have to sit this one out.
GREAT challenge, Dawn. The Nutcracker Suite is one of my FAVORITE holiday happenings...whether live or on PBS. I chose the "Waltz of the Snowflakes" when Clara first enters the magical kingdom. I used Beate's Retiform technique for my bg...with a little alteration of method. Thanks for a fun way to start Friday!
__________________ ~ Emily ~ My BLOG
My kids are on SCS: ponyluvingirl (age 14) and Legoboy (age 10)
I'm a Punchkateer! ~ I design for DeNami Design Rubber Stamps
My nutcrackers and my Nutcracker CDs are always a fun part of Christmas. I enjoyed this challenge. Thanks for your challenge today, and the work you do all year through. :>)
For those who have not seen the Nutcracker Suite ballet, below is a short overview of the Nutcracker Suite performance as found on Wikipedia Here. As you read it, there are certainly other ideas in the story that you can use besides just the nutcracker. Hope this helps.
On a sidenote, My daughter also dances in the Nutcracker, and this year's first performance was a little hairy. At the end of the first act, the "falling snow" was actually soap flakes. Unfortunately, it was slippery and most of the dancers ended up falling. There was a point where I thought there was actually going to be a pileup. Fortunately noone was hurt. They decided not to use the "falling" snow in the second performance, and noone fell!
Act I - Scene 1: The Silberhaus Home
It is Christmas Eve at the house of Herr and Frau Silberhaus and their children. Family and friends have gathered in the parlor to decorate the beautiful Christmas tree in preparation for the night's festivities. Once the tree is finished, the younger children are sent for; among them are Clara, the Silberhaus' daughter, and her brother Fritz. The children stand in awe of the tree, sparkling with candles and decorations.
The festivities begin. A march is played on the piano. Presents are given out to the children. Suddenly, as the owl-topped clock strikes eight, a mysterious figure enters the room. It is Herr Drosselmeyer, a local councilman and Clara and Fritz's godfather. He is also a talented toymaker who has brought with him gifts for the children, including four lifelike dolls -- a Harlequin and Columbine, and a Vivandi�re and Soldier -- who dance to the delight of all. Herr Silberhaus has the precious dolls put away for safekeeping.
Clara and Fritz are sad to see the dolls taken away, but Herr Drosselmeyer has yet another toy for them: a wooden nutcracker carved in the shape of a little man, used for cracking hazelnuts. The children are delighted. Clara immediately takes a liking to it. Fritz, however, tries to use the nutcracker to crack a walnut (too large and hard for the its wooden jaw) and inadvertently breaks it. Clara is heartbroken.
Clara takes the wounded toy to her doll's bed, lulling it to sleep. The boys interrupt with their toy trumpets and horns. Herr and Frau Silberhaus announce it is time to finish off the evening with a traditional Grandfather dance. After the dance, the guests depart, and the children are sent off to bed.
During the night, after everyone else has gone to bed, Clara returns to the parlor to check on her beloved nutcracker. As she reaches the little bed, the clock strikes midnight and she looks up to see her Godfather Drosselmeyer perched atop the clock in place of the owl. Suddenly, six-foot tall mice begin to fill the room and the Christmas tree begins to grow to dizzying heights. The Nutcracker also grows to life-size. Clara finds herself in the midst of a battle between an army of gingerbread soldiers and the mice, led by the Mouse King. The mice begin to eat the gingerbread soldiers.
The Nutcracker appears to lead the gingerbread soldiers, who are joined by tin soldiers and dolls (who serve as doctors to carry away the wounded). As the Mouse King advances on the still-wounded Nutcracker, Clara throws her slipper at him, distracting him long enough for the Nutcracker to stab him.
Konstantin Ivanov's original sketch for the set of The Nutcracker, Act II (1892)
Scene 2: A Pine Forest
The mice retreat and the Nutcracker is transformed into a handsome Prince. He leads Clara through the moonlit night to a pine forest in which the snowflakes dance around them.
Act II - Scene 1: The Land of Sweets (Confiturembourg)
Clara and the Prince travel in a nutshell boat pulled by dolphins to the beautiful Land of Sweets in Confiturembourg, ruled by the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Prince's place until his return. The Prince recounts for the Sugar Plum Fairy how he had been saved by Clara from the Mouse King and had been transformed back into a Prince.
In honor of the young heroine, a celebration of sweets from around the world is produced: Chocolate from Spain, Coffee from Arabia, and Tea from China all dance for their amusement; Candy Canes from Russia perform an intricate hoop dance; Danish Marzipan Shepherdesses perform on their flutes; Mother Gigogne has her Polichinelle children emerge from under her enormous skirt to dance; a string of beautiful flowers perform a waltz. To conclude the night, the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier perform a Pas de Deux.
A final waltz is performed by all the sweets after which Clara and the Prince are crowned rulers of Confiturembourg forever and are shown the riches of their kingdom domed with an enormous beehive.
__________________ Brenda
<-My sibling kitties, Milo and Rousseau