The whole nut - survey of dance companies and schools regarding faux pas in their productions of 'Nutcracker'

Dance Magazine, Dec, 1996 by Caitlin Sims

The Arabian snake went out of control and beat the dancer off the stage." "The Rat King threw a temper tantrum, and the understudy, secretly rehearsing in a studio, almost beheaded a mouse." "The swastika flag didn't appear in the `Waltz of the Flowers.'"

Above are some of the more surprising and puzzling responses in this year's Dance Magazine Nutcracker Survey to questions about technical glitches. In celebration of the tradition of Nutcracker Dance Magazine surveyed dance companies and school in the U.S. and abroad aboutcompanies many different aspects of their productions. More than 200 companies and schools responded from all over the globe--Hong Kong to Peoria, Lisbon to Bogota--and ranged from small-budget productions with a few dancers giving two or three performances to New York City Ballet's 45-performance season to an audience of over 100,000.

The sheer numbers are astounding: Last year alone 20,926 dancers gave 2,408 performances. With so many dancers in so many performances, faux pas are inescapable and the survey responses demonstrate that human foibles are as much a part of Nutcracker as the "Waltz of the Flowers."

THE PARTY

The ballet opens with a Christmas eve party scene at theStahlbaum's house. Most of the partygoers are children, whose onstage antics are not always part of the choreography. While. most young dancers are consummate professionals onstage, others have added spice to the party by chewing gum and blowing bubbles, giggling, throwing up, picking their noses, losing their bloomers, waving to the audience, forgetting the steps, putting itching powder in each other's costumes, or falling asleep onstage. The children are not the only culprits, however. In McGuire Ballet Company's production in Glens Falls, New York, the mayor, making a cameo appearance as the grandfather, was so busy chatting offstage that he completely missed his cue.

Drosselmeyer arrives fashionably late to the party, bearing the Nutcracker, which siblings Clara (sometimes Marie) and Fritz fight over. Drosselmeyer also occasionally brings animals onstage, often with disastrous results: In a New Jersey Ballet production the dancer's pet dog followed him onstage, and in BalletMet's production Drosselmeyer intentionally carried a pet duck onstage.

The duck took one look at the orchestra pit, waddled over, and jumped in. The pit is apparently attractive to the avian set; Atlanta Ballet also tells of live doves from their production flying into the orchestra. Royal Swedish Ballet uses a poodle in the first act which "has a will of its own," and three of the companies that use horses told of their relieving themselves onstage.

Although in only 18% of the productions is Drosselmeyer meant to be scary, he is always enigmatic and, apparently, somewhat difficult to define. Different companies described him as: absent-minded, aweinspiring, bald, benign, mice, portrayed either by small children or by remote-control gadgetry (the second most likely prop to fall into the orchestra pit) scurry around the room. Bigger rats emerge, sporting red pointe shoes in the Swedish Ballet version, and Rollerblades in Ballet Arts Minnesota's production. Flat shoes are no guarantee of stability--in a Ballet de Santiago, Chile, performance, one rat tripped as they all exited to the same wing, and the ensuing domino effect caused chaos in the snow scene. The grandfather clock, which ominously strikes twelve midway through this scene, seems to have a magnetic attraction for Drosselmeyer--in five different productions it has fallen on the mysterious magician.

The Christmas tree is supposed to grow, but not all stagehands have green thumbs, and stunted tree growth is the most common technical snafu. Twenty-eight companies confessed to tree troubles, with a high percentage reporting collapsing trees which coincidentally fell in sync with an appropriate crescendo in the music. Pacific North west Ballet, faced with a growth problem with a brand-new tree, turned to Boeing Corporation to develop a motor to lift the new turbo-tree, which has successfully flown ever since. Maryland Regional Ballet's Clara watched in amazement as the tree continued to grow--off the floor. Huntsville Ballet Company also reported that its "flying" Drosselmeyer hit the tree.

The flashpot that goes off with the soldiers' cannon can also be a source of trouble, either by not going off at all or by setting other items on fire--including, but not limited to a party scene couch, Christmas gifts, the stage curtain, Drosselmeyer's wig, and a dancer's leg. In a LakeCities Ballet production, an overloaded cannon caused a piece of itself to go flying into the audience.

Who is that masked man? The Nutcracker appears, transformed into a life-size doll, usually with a mask. The mask, which weighs an average of just four pounds, contributes to the onstage chaos by making visibility difficult, and many a mouse has lost its tail by having a disoriented Nutcracker step on it. A small number of companies use hockey masks for the base of the mask of their Nutcracker, perhaps to subtly hint at the mouse carnage to come, a la Jason in Friday the 13th.