I have never been a fan of these decorated men called nutcrackers....but after some time and seeing my Mother in Law's collection they seem to have grown on me....Each one is so different in design and colour....and they have their own personality....then I saw these huge ones on my trip to NYC a few weeks ago and it inspired this piece....
I was going to create these guys all in white so when I print them they I would be able to add some glitter for fun....but I ended up going in the traditional Christmas colours of green and red.....
Do you like these? do you collect or own any?
There is not much information on these pieces...only the two act ballet....here is a little blurb about the show from
Wikipedia......
The Nutcracker is a two-act
ballet, originally choreographed by
Marius Petipa and
Lev Ivanov with a score by
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from
E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its premiere at the
Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg on 18 December 1892, on a double-bill with Tchaikovsky's opera,
Iolanta.
Although the original production was not a success, the twenty-minute suite that Tchaikovsky extracted from the ballet was. However, the complete
Nutcracker has enjoyed enormous popularity since the mid-20th century and is now performed by countless ballet companies, primarily during the
Christmas season, especially in the U.S
Tchaikovsky's score has become one of his most famous compositions, in particular the pieces featured in the suite.
Among other things, the score is noted for its use of the
celesta, an instrument that the composer had already employed in his much lesser known
symphonic ballad The Voyevoda. Although known primarily as the featured solo instrument in the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" from Act II of
The Nutcracker, it is also employed elsewhere in the same act.