{"id":26303,"date":"2014-12-24T10:55:34","date_gmt":"2014-12-24T14:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/?p=26303"},"modified":"2014-12-24T10:55:34","modified_gmt":"2014-12-24T14:55:34","slug":"40-years-of-the-nutcracker-in-cincinnati","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/2014\/12\/40-years-of-the-nutcracker-in-cincinnati\/","title":{"rendered":"40 Years of The Nutcracker in Cincinnati"},"content":{"rendered":"

The holidays in Cincinnati bring many traditions to mind.\u00a0 You can go see the Duke Energy train display at the Cincinnati Museum Center (formerly the CG&E train display and previously located downtown), and you surely do not want to miss the Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo.\u00a0 One tradition in particular, though, is celebrating a big anniversary.\u00a0 2014 marks the 40th<\/sup> year for Cincinnati Ballet\u2019s performance of The Nutcracker<\/em>.\u00a0 For many Cincinnatians, a trip to see The Nutcracker<\/em> at Music Hall is their first experience with the ballet, and for others it might be their only experience.<\/p>\n

\"Panorama<\/a>
\nThe opening night of Cincinnati Ballet Company\u2019s first production of The Nutcracker<\/em> took place on December 18, 1974.\u00a0 David McLain was the artistic director of the ballet at the time, and he was intent on making this performance \"Mother<\/a>of The Nutcracker<\/em> intrinsically Cincinnati. \u00a0The ballet was set in Cincinnati in 1892 to coincide with the ballet\u2019s original premier in St. Petersburg, Russia.\u00a0 Stage designs were based on photos of prominent Cincinnatians\u2019 homes and several costume designs were from historic catalogs of Cincinnati department stores. \u00a0The production was made possible through support from Frisch\u2019s Restaurants, which continues to support The Nutcracker<\/em> to this day.<\/p>\n

Not only is The Nutcracker<\/em> an important Cincinnati holiday tradition, the production provides about fifty percent of Cincinnati Ballet\u2019s annual ticket sales so it has become important for helping to fund the remainder of Cincinnati Ballet\u2019s season.\u00a0 Interestingly enough, The Nutcracker<\/em> is so beloved by \"Nutcracker<\/a>Americans that it is very common for American ballet companies to acquire a large portion of their annual income from performances of this ballet.\u00a0 In fact, The Nutcracker<\/em> is more popular in the U.S. than in its native Russia. The very first Nutcracker ballet premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia on December 17, 1892.\u00a0 The story is adapted from The Nutcracker and the Mouse Kin<\/em>g by E.T.A.\u00a0 Hoffman.\u00a0 This darker tale told the story of Marie and her Christmas toys that come to life.\u00a0 Alexandre Dumas adapted the story into a lighter version which was then adapted into a ballet composed by Tchaikovsky and choreographed by Marius Petipa.<\/p>\n

In the last 40 years, the Cincinnati Ballet has performed six different versions of The Nutcracker<\/em>.\u00a0 Each variation has had its memorable aspects. From a \"Nutcracker<\/a>massive tree and dancing poodles in the original production to a giant ginger cat named Frau Kitzenkatzen in the 1987 production, there has always been something new to see in The Nutcracker<\/em>.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re interested in learning more about the history of Cincinnati Ballet, consult David Lyman\u2019s recent book, Cincinnati Ballet Celebrates 50<\/em> which is available in the Archives and Rare Books Library reference section GV1786.C5 C55 2013<\/a>\u00a0and a circulating copy is available in the CCM Library.\u00a0 The Archives and Rare Books Library also holds records of the Cincinnati Ballet<\/a> and papers of David McLain and David Blackburn<\/a>.\u00a0 For more information or to view the collections, contact the Archives and Rare Books Library at 513-556-1959 or archives@ucmail.uc.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The holidays in Cincinnati bring many traditions to mind.\u00a0 You can go see the Duke Energy train display at the Cincinnati Museum Center (formerly the CG&E train display and previously located downtown), and you surely do not want to miss … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,13],"tags":[364,53,58],"class_list":["post-26303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arb","category-uclibraries","tag-cincinnati-ballet","tag-cincinnati-history","tag-urban-studies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26303\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}