08:00 pm | Nationaltheater

DER NUSSKNACKER (THE NUTCRACKER)

John Neumeier

Ballet

Ballet

DER NUSSKNACKER (THE NUTCRACKER)

Choreography John Neumeier. Music Peter I. Tschaikowsky.


recommended for 6 years and older

Ballet in two acts after the story by E. T. A. Hoffmann - 1971
Van Cleef & Arpels

Is The Nutcracker merely a Christmas tale? No, not necessarily - A winter tale, perhaps. Most of all, the nutcracker is a birthday present for Marie! John Neumeier chooses to tell the poetic fairy tale The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E.T.A. Hoffmann in a different way. “A new classic was born”, said Dorion Weickmann, “an everlasting staple of ballet repertory full of insights on human relationships that were, and are still, highly relevant in society.” Neumeier said in 1975, only four years after giving this all-time favorite family classic a fresh face. The American choreographer, then and now artistic director of the Hamburg Ballet, reduced the old-fashioned tale to its essential message: Marie is growing up - with all the emotions, conflicts and feelings that this laborious process entails. With innate drama, baroque elegance and clever humor, Neumeier created a tableau that is far from Hoffmann’s original tale. His The Nutcracker boldly comments on the state of our society, it is a family portrait and a story of the rite of passage. Moreover, it’s a deep bow of respect to the high art of classical ballet. None other than Petipa himself whisks away Marie to the foreign (dream-) world of the theater. There, she encounters and surrenders to the charm of famous ballets characters – but rest assured: the audience is right with her on that.

Cast

  • Ensemble of the Bayerisches Staatsballett
  • Bayerisches Staatsorchester
Der Nussknacker, Ensemble2, © Wilfried HöslDer Nussknacker, Ensemble, © Wilfried HöslDer Nussknacker, Ensemble3, © Wilfried HöslDer Nussknacker, Nancy Osbaldeston, Jonah Cook © Wilfried HöslDer Nussknacker, Nancy Osbaldeston, Jonah Cook 2 © Wilfried HöslDer Nussknacker, Prisca Zeisel, Emilio Pavan © Wilfried HöslDer Nussknacker, Nancy Osbaldeston © Oliver ExnerDer Nussknacker, Jonah Cook, Marta Navarrete Villalba © Oliver Exner