Women In Ballet Essay example -- essays research papers fc

Ballet is an art form born out of the expressionism and creativity of the rebirth period (Kraus 63). From the first ballet performed in 1580 to the present, women have been portrayed as fragile and dependent on men. One such ballet is The Nutcracker in which the girl-heroine Clara relies on the Nutcracker to save her from the evil grovel King.     The first production of The Nutcracker was performed for critics, public figures, and members of high society and received lack luster reviews on December 17, 1892 (Anderson 40-52). The story opens in the parlor of a middle-class German family, the Stahlbaums, during a party on Christmas Eve. Excitement fills the air in anticipation of the nights festivities. The Stahlbaum children, timid Clara and her brother Fritz, are caught in the enchantment of the evening. Guests arrive and presents are exchanged all this is a typical Christmas scene, until the magic begins. Drosselmeyer, Claras godfather, arrives late with his nephew, a boy approximate Claras age, and a nutcracker for Clara. Clara very much likes Drosselmeyers charming and courteous nephew and is also fond of her strange new toy. With the last dance, the party is brought to an end. Clara, unable to sleep, creeps below for one last look at her nutcracker. She falls asleep on the sofa holding the nutcracker in her arms. Clara is awakened to the peculiar sounds of scurrying and rustling. The Christmas channelize lights have turned on again, as it grows bigger and bigger. All of the toys, including Claras nutcracker, have come to life. Suddenly mice invade the room with intentions to rob and plunder. Under the leadership of the awful Mouse King, the mice begin to attack the dolls. The dolls retaliate under the leadership of the Nutcracker, but are unable to fight off their enemy. The Nutcracker, left unharmed, engages in a affaire dhonneur with the Mouse King. He appears to be losing when Clara throws her slipper at the Mouse King. This d istracts the Mouse King enabling the Nutcracker to deal a final blow to the Mouse King. The mice scatter, and the toys are saved. The Nutcracker thanks Clara and is transformed into Drosselmeyers nephew. He takes Clara to the palace in the Land of Sweets ruled by the Sugarplum Fairy. Young Drosselmeyer impresses the Sugarplum Fairy with his tale of the nights adventure. As a reward, she promises the children ... ...l that even in Claras own dream she is being lead by the Nutcracker. This helps further display the belief that a woman not only ask but also wants a man to tell her what to do.      Despite being an outdated story for our modern times, The Nutcracker remains a holiday favorite. more or less could not imagine Christmas time without watching the dance of the Sugarplum Fairy or the battle of the Mouse King and The Nutcracker. Maybe it is the beautiful dancing, the magical Christmas scenes, or the sentimentalist story, but no matter what, is seems The Nutcracker is here to stay.BibliographyAnderson, Jack. The Nutcracker Ballet. New York Mayflower Books, 1979.Balanchine, George. Balanchines Complete Stories of the Great Ballets. Garden City Doubleday & Company, 1954.Banes, Sally. Dancing Women young-bearing(prenominal) bodies on stage. London Routledge, 1998.Guest, Ivor. The Romantic Ballet in Paris. Middleton Wesleyan UP, 1966.Kirstein, Lincoln. Four Centuries of Ballet Fifty Masterworks. New York General Publishing, 1970.Kraus, Richard. History of Dance. Englewood Cliffs Prentice-Hall, 1969."The Nutcracker." International Dictionary of Ballet. 1993