Romantic Era Dance

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Romantic Era Dance
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Romantic Era Ballet

• Brought the ballerina to new heights of glamour
  and popularity
• Male dancer's role decreased
• 1830-1840 - The Golden Age of Ballet

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The Golden Age of Ballet

• Ballet became supremely popular during the
  Romantic Era.
• The most important composer and ballet
  choreographer is Tchaikovsky

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The Nutcracker Suite

• The Romanticism movement saw the Golden Age of
  ballet develop, as we see in Tchaikovsky's
  Nutcracker Suite. The ballet is a narrative
  fantasy, for it shows the toys of a child coming
  to life and having an adventure. Part of the
  Nutcracker Suite is the "Dance of the Sugar Plum
  Fairy," a fantasy of magic, whim, and emotion
  typical of the Romantic period. The Nutcracker
  shows two key elements of the Romantic Period
• a tendency to portray life as it is not it may
  distort the real world in order to escape from
  it, and
• reason came in second to feeling and intuition.
  Writers abandon the old rules and started using
  stylized methods.

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The Nutcracker Plot Synopsis

• Exposition
• A mysterious magician and toymaker once invented
  a trap that killed off half the mouse population.
  
• In revenge, the wicked Mouse Queen cast a spell
  on Drosselmeyer's nephew, Hans-Peter.
• Transformed him into an ugly nutcracker doll.
• The only way to break the spell is for the
  Nutcracker to slay the Mouse King and for a young
  girl to love and care for him in spite of his
  awful appearance.

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Rising Action

• Drosselmeyer gives his nephew to Clara as a
  Christmas gift, hoping to end the curse.
• At the end of the Christmas party, Clara goes
  downstairs and finds Drosselmeyer waiting to put
  her into a magical land
• The magician summons the Mouse King and he and
  The Nutcracker fight.

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Climax

• The Nutcracker slays the Mouse King, but only
  through the intervention of Clara, who, out of
  compassion, saves the Nutcracker's life.
• Hans-Peter is restored to his real self.

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Falling Action

• Clara and The Nutcracker (now Hans-Peter) travel
  to the Land of Snow, then the Sugar Garden in the
  Kingdom of Sweets, where they meet the Sugar Plum
  Fairy
• Drosselmeyer honors them for their bravery.

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Denoument

• Returning to reality, Clara runs out to
  Drosselmeyer, but sees the human form of The
  Nutcracker instead
• Drosselmeyer prays that his efforts will be
  rewarded.
• His nephew returns the spell has indeed been
  broken.