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Student Matinee ▪ December 2, 2016

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Teacher Resource Guide

Terrence S. Orr’s

Cover photo by Duane Rieder; Artist: William Moore. Production Guide created by PBT’s Department of Education and Community Engagement, 2016.

The Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Education Department is grateful for the support of the following

Presenting Sponsors Student Matinee Sponsor

Benedum Center for the Performing Arts

December 2 - 27, 2016

Allegheny Regional Asset District

Anne L. and George H. Clapp Charitable Trust

BNY Mellon Foundation

Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation

Eat ‘n Park Hospitality Group

ESB Bank

Giant Eagle Foundation

The Grable Foundation

Hefren-Tillotson, Inc.

The Heinz Endowments

Henry C. Frick Educational Fund of The Buhl

Foundation

Highmark Foundation

Jack Buncher Foundation

Peoples Natural Gas

Pennsylvania Council on the Arts

Pennsylvania Department of Community and

Economic Development

PNC Bank Grow up Great

PPG Industries, Inc.

Richard King Mellon Foundation

James M. and Lucy K. Schoonmaker

Foundation

Edith L. Trees Charitable Trust

UPMC Health Plan

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CONTENTS 5 About the Ballet 6 Double Bill: Iolanthe and The Nutcracker Preserving the Choreography—Notation and The Nutcracker 8 Did You Know? Hoffmann’s The Nutcracker and the Mouse King Important Dates for The Nutcracker Ballet 9 Characteristics of a Story Ballet in the Late 19th Century

9 The Composer: Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky 10 A Nutcracker Innovation: The Celesta 10 What is The Nutcracker Suite? 11 Did You Know? Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker

11 Cast List and Setting for PBT’s The Nutcracker

12 Synopsis

13 The Pittsburgh Connection

15 The Choreography 17 Signature Steps—Piourette and Balancé

18 The Costumes 20 The Scenic Design

20 Getting to Know PBT’s Dancers 21 The Benedum Center

21 Accessibility

Activities 22 Nutcracker Word Search 23 It’s Nutcracker Time! Clock Activities 25 Kaufmann’s Christmas Storybook 26 Nutcracker Map Activity 27 Stick Puppets Template/Character Guide 29 Listening Guide 30 Glossary of Musical Terms 31 Entry Pointes (Aligned with PDE Academic Standards) 32 PA Core Standards for English Language Arts PDE Academic Standards 1.1-1.5) 35 PA Core Standards for Mathematics (PDE Academic Standards 2.1-2.11) 37 Science and Technology and Engineering (PDE Academic Standards 3.1-3.4) 38 Environment and Ecology (PDE Academic Standards 4.1-4.5) 38 Civics and Government (PDE Academic Standards 5.1-5.4) 39 Economics (PDE Academic Standards 6.1-6.5) 39 Geography (PDE Academic Standards 7.1-7.4) 40 History (PDE Academic Standards 8.1-8.4) 41 Arts and Humanities (PDE Academic Standards 9.1-9.4) 43 Health, Safety and Physical Education (PDE Academic Standards 10.1-10.5) 43 Family and Consumer Sciences (PDE Academic Standards 11.1-11.4) 44 Career Education (PDE Academic Standards 13.1-13.4) 45 Business and Computer IT (PDE Academic Standards 15:1-15:9) 46 Lexile Reading Measures List 47 Elementary Synopsis 48 Word Search Answer Key

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November 2016

Dear Educator:

This is a particularly busy time of year for students and teachers, both at school and at home. So we especially appreciate that you have taken the time to plan for, organize, and execute a visit to the Benedum Center to see Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s The Nutcracker. We know you will not be disappointed—it is one of Pittsburgh’s favorite holiday traditions.

But The Nutcracker is more than a holiday activity for your class. We invite you to explore this ballet, one of the most beloved of all time, even before you come to the Benedum. This resource guide for The Nutcracker includes:

background information about the history of the original ballet and about PBT’s unique

Pittsburgh-themed version.

lesson prompts—which we call Entry Pointes—aligned with PDE academic standards, to assist

you in extending the experience of The Nutcracker into your classroom. These prompts will help

you engage students in history by exploring the Pittsburgh elements of the ballet, connect stu-

dents with science and math through thematic and theater-based activities, and even encour-

age students to explore the cultures represented in the ballet’s ethnic dances.

listening guide and suggestions for musical activities that bring Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece into

closer focus. Select excerpts of Tchaikovsky’s music are included on the enclosed CD.

We offer dozens of options to help prepare your students for their experience at the Benedum and we hope you will take advantage of all the learning opportunities associated with attending a ballet.

We welcome you to the theater on December 4th to discover The Nutcracker and the art and discipline of ballet. Thank you for your commitment to incorporating the arts into your curriculum and to promoting arts experiences for your students. Let us know how we can help you engage, connect, and explore the arts with your classroom.

This year we are also thrilled and proud to present a sensory-friendly performance of The Nut-cracker on December 27, 2016 at 2 pm. Please visit our website for more information (http://www.pbt.org/sensory-friendly-performances) and pass the word to friends and colleagues who might know or work with children or adults who might benefit from this performance.

We wish you a successful school year and look forward to seeing you at the Benedum!

Sincerely,

Terrence S. Orr

Artistic Director

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About the Ballet The Nutcracker ballet was created in 1892 in

Russia, which at the time was ruled by a Czar.

In the capitol, St. Petersburg, the famous

Imperial Theatre School and the Mariinsky

Theater were supported by the royal family.

Respect for art and music was a highly regarded

czarist tradition.

The Imperial Theater regularly created music,

opera and ballet programs for the entertainment

of the Czar. The Theater’s director, I. A.

Vsevolozhsky, decided to create a ballet based

on a rather dark story, The Nutcracker and the

Mouse King. Written in 1816 by German Romantic author E.T.A. Hoffmann, the story was widely

known in Russia. It had been adapted in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas (author of The

Three Musketeers), whose version is seen by some as a simpler, lighter and less frightening story.

Marius Petipa, the ballet master at the Imperial School, was given the task of translating the story

into ballet. Because he didn’t read German, he wasn’t familiar with Hoffmann’s book and instead

used Dumas’ revision (Histoire d'un casse-noisette) as the basis for the ballet.

Vsevolozhsky contracted with Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky to create the score. Petipa and Tchaikovsky

had worked together on the very successful 1890 ballet The Sleeping Beauty. Petipa gave

Tchaikovsky detailed musical notes, even down to the number of bars and the tempo. For the

“Arabian Dance” (called “Coffee” in Petipa’s original) the choreographer’s instructions read:

When Petipa became ill, his assistant, Lev Ivanov, took over the project. There is still debate as to

how much of the choreography was created by each.

The Nutcracker premiered at the Mariinsky Theatre in

December 1892, along with Tchaikovsky’s opera,

Iolanta, which was performed first. (In France it was

common to perform a ballet following an opera;

Russia sometimes adopted this French tradition.)

The audience and critical reaction to the ballet was

mixed. Critics generally liked the “snow” scene but

were annoyed with—among other things—the

prominence of children in the ballet, the deviation

from the original Hoffmann tale, and the fact that the

showcase for the ballerina (the “Dance of the Sugar

Plum Fairy”) didn’t occur until almost midnight (due to

Iolanthe being staged first). The score was much

better-received, and was recognized by most critics

for its beauty and inspirational melodies.

Original sketch for the set of The Nutcracker, Act II, 1892

COFFEE. Arabia. The kingdom of Yemen. Coffee mocha. Oriental Dance. From 24 to 32

bars of charming and voluptuous music.

Original cast of The Nutcracker, 1892 Image source

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The ballet wasn’t particularly popular in Russia and was performed only sporadically and in

shortened versions for several decades. It was first performed in Great Britain in 1934 and was

brought to the United States in 1944 (first performed by San Francisco Opera Ballet). George Balan-

chine’s 1954 version for New York City Ballet popularized the ballet, and it soon became a Christ-

mas holiday tradition in the U.S. Today, hundreds of versions of the ballet are performed every year.

Double Bill: Iolanthe and The Nutcracker

Ballet and opera have a long, intertwined history. Opera came into development at almost the same

time as ballet did in the mid-17th century, except in Italy. However, when opera migrated to France,

the government rolled the production of both art forms together in the creation of the Royal

Academy of Music (later the Paris Opera) in 1669. As French opera became more serious in tone

and tragic in content over the latter part of that century, ballet bits or

divertissements were thrown in as “leavening” to lighten the mood or

would focus entirely on le merveilleux—the marvelous (think spectacle

and grandeur). The Italians took a different route, and instead of meshing

ballet within the story of the opera, they segregated them: ballets were

independent spectacles performed in between the opera’s acts. Up until

the mid-19th century, most opera companies had their own resident

ballet companies at their disposal for mounting productions.

What many don’t realize is that The Nutcracker actually started on a

double-bill with Tchaikovsky’s opera, Iolanthe, a story about a blind

princess who, when she finds true love, recovers the sight she never

even realized was missing. Some scholars point out that this double-bill

intentionally placed the darker story of Iolanthe before the more

saccharine Nutcracker, something that would temper the music and nar-

rative flaws of both pieces, but especially of The Nutcracker, which never

captivated Tchaikovsky’s attention the way The Sleeping Beauty did and

whose story lacked the depth of the earlier work. The total length of the

evening with both performances was over four hours, a far cry from PBT’s two hour version!

Medea Mei-Figner, originator of the role of Iolanthe. Image source

Preserving the Choreography—Notation and The Nutcracker

Have you ever played the childhood game “Telephone?” Where you whisper a phrase in someone’s

ear, who passes along what she heard to the next person, and so on and so forth until you get to

the end? Most of the time, what is at the end doesn’t sound much like the first phrase at all! For the

most part, prior to video technology, this was how dance was passed down and taught—person to

person, from people who danced in a production and relied on their memory to teach it to others.

Occasionally, there have been a few dance notation systems that have attempted to capture

choreography in writing. One of these systems, the Stepanov system, was developed by Vladimir

Stepanov in 1892 to document the ballets for the Imperial Theatre of Russia.

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While we don’t have notation from the

original production in St. Petersburg in

1892, we do have notation from Nikolas

Sergeyev, a dancer with the Mariinsky

Ballet during Marius Petipa’s final years

and later the régisseur (or stage manager)

from 1903 through the Russian

Revolution. His notations are based on

The Nutcracker and other ballets when

they were mounted at the Mariinsky during

the late 1890s and early 20th century; the

majority of the ballets, however, are

incomplete sketches at best. When he fled

Russia after the Revolution, he had the

foresight to take these with him, where he

later became an acclaimed stager of

Russian ballets in the West. Most notably,

he staged The Nutcracker, The Sleeping

Beauty, and Giselle for the Vic-Wells

company (later England’s Royal Ballet)

and solidified the basis for what we now

call the “classical ballet” canon. In 1969,

Harvard University acquired the collection.

More information, including digital access

to parts of the collection, can be found at

the Nikolai Sergeyev Dance Notations and

Music Scores for Ballets (Harvard Theatre

Collection, Houghton Library, Harvard

University).

Top: Sergeyev’s notations for the “Snow Scene” Harvard Theatre Collection; Bottom: PBT’s rendition, 2012. Photo by Rich Sofranko

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Did you Know? Hoffmann’s The Nutcracker and the Mouse King

Hoffmann was a Romantic-era author whose stories rebelled against rationalism (the dominant movement of his time was the Enlightenment, which emphasized rational thinking). He stressed a return to nature, to imagination, and creativity.

The main character’s name in Hoffmann’s original story is Marie, which is also the name PBT uses. Dumas changed the name to Clara in his 1844 version, the name many ballet companies use in their productions.

Hoffmann’s Marie feels constrained by her family’s rituals and regulations. The family name, Stahlbaum (“steel tree”) reflects her feeling of restriction. Dumas changed the family name to Silberhaus (“silver house”)—a gentler image. (PBT uses Stahlbaum.)

Hoffmann’s name for the uncle, Drosselmeyer, loosely translated means “one who stirs things up.”

“The Story of the Hard Nut” is a story within Hoffmann’s Nutcracker that explains how the nephew became disfigured and was turned into a Nutcracker. This is generally not included in ballet versions of the story. (Contemporary choreographer Mark Morris created a Nutcracker ballet set in the 1960s and called it “The Hard Nut.”)

In Germany during Hoffmann’s time, nutcrackers were carved in the image of local officials to poke fun at them.

One of Hoffmann’s other stories, The Sandman, is the basis for the ballet, Coppelia.

Important Dates for The Nutcracker ballet

1776—E.T.A. Hoffmann, German Romantic author, is born

1816—Hoffmann writes the story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (Nussknacker und

Mausekönig)

1818—Marius Petipa, French ballet dancer and choreographer, and The Nutcracker’s original

librettist and choreographer, is born

1840—Tchaikovsky is born

1844—Alexandre Dumas writes an adaptation of Hoffmann’s novel: The Nutcracker (Histoire

d’un casse-noisette), which will form the basis of the ballet

1892—The Nutcracker ballet premieres in December at the Imperial Mariinsky Theater in St.

Petersburg, Russia. Original choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov

1893—Tchaikovsky dies

1944—The San Francisco Opera Ballet presents the first full-length production of The

Nutcracker in the United States

1954—New York City Ballet choreographer George Balanchine creates his famous version of

The Nutcracker

2002—Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s Artistic Director Terrence S. Orr creates PBT’s version of The

Nutcracker, with an enhanced storyline, new choreography, and a Pittsburgh theme

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Characteristics of a Story Ballet in the Late-19th Century

Story ballets created at the time of The Nutcracker had common elements that allowed for the

talents and abilities of the dancers to be prominently displayed. (See below for definitions of terms

in italics.)

Focus was on a main female character, danced by the prima ballerina Prima ballerina dances pas de deux with variations and coda Prima ballerina dances at least one pas d'action to display her miming abilities

Premier danseur has several variations to show his technique A sampling of pas de caractères gives soloists an opportunity to display their abilities Grand march at the end brings the Corps de Ballet on stage to provide a backdrop for a last

dance by the ballerina Classical Ballet Terms

Ballerina: leading classical or principal danc-

er of a ballet company

Coda: the conclusion or ending of a pas de

deux

Corps de Ballet: The chorus of the ballet;

dancers who appear in large groups. These

dancers provide a background for the principal

dancers and help to fill out story lines. Their

dances also provide time for the principal danc-

ers to change costumes.

Pas d'Action: portions of the ballet that can

help to develop the plot or depict an activity, they

are a combination of dancing and pantomime.

Pas de Caractère: character dance, national

or folk dance

Pas de Deux: dance for two

Premier Danseur: Classical male dancer, the

first male dancer of a company or Principal

Dancer. His dances will be challenging displays

of classical technique.

Prima Ballerina: When there is more than one

principal dancer in a company, the prima balleri-

na is the first female dancer of a company.

Variation: solo dance

Composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in Kamsko-Votinsk, Russia on

May 7, 1840. He was a precocious child who could read French

and German at the age of six, and at age seven was writing vers-

es in French. He began taking piano lessons when he was seven

years old. He showed an ultra-sensitivity to music and had a

delicate musical ear.

In 1850 his well-to-do middle-class family moved to St. Petersburg

where he attended school. He was mildly interested in music and

at age 14 began attempting composition. By the time he

graduated from the School of Jurisprudence in 1859 and had

started work as a clerk, his family had lost most of its money due

to bad investments. Tchaikovsky ended up making a great deal of

money during his life, but gave away much of it and freely spent

the rest. Painting of Tchaikovsky by Nikolay Kuznetsov, 1893

“The Nutcracker” is one of the great miracles of music.

Berlin Philharmonic Conductor Sir Simon Rattle

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At age twenty-one he began to study music seriously. He worked with Nicolia Zaremba until the

St. Petersburg Conservatory opened in 1862. He was one of the best students at the conservatory

and in 1866 he moved to Moscow to be a harmony teacher for the Moscow Conservatory. He led

a quiet life there, teaching and composing. In 1877, a wealthy widow started to subsidize

Tchaikovsky, a relationship that was to last fourteen years. However, there was one strange

condition to the widow's financial support—they were never to meet. With this financial

independence, he was able to resign from the Conservatory in 1878.

Ballet music during Tchaikovsky's time was largely considered unimaginative.The music world,

however, was astonished when Tchaikovsky, a great composer, would "stoop so low" when he

first composed Swan Lake in 1877. But he showed an unprecedented mastery of the art, creating

vivid orchestrations, effective themes and melodies that flawlessly matched physical movements.*

He went on to compose two more full-length ballets that would become enduring masterworks of

the genre: The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker.

*The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, p. 152-3

A Nutcracker Innovation: The Celesta (also celeste)

For The Nutcracker, Tchaikovsky created a number of musical effects using

unusual instruments, including a toy trumpet, cuckoo and nightingale whistles,

and a rattle that produced the sounds of a nutcracker cracking nuts. But

perhaps the most exciting musical innovation was the use of the celesta

(che-LEH-stah), an instrument invented in Paris in 1886. Tchaikovsky had

used it in his symphonic poem The Voyevoda in 1891, but it was still relatively

unknown as he composed The Nutcracker. He knew it would be perfect for

musically representing the Sugarplum Fairy and wanted to keep its use a

secret from critics and other composers. He wouldn’t even allow it to be used

in rehearsals until the final one just before the performance. Tchaikovsky’s

instincts were correct—the celesta was a sensation.

The celesta looks like a small piano though it is actually part of the percussion

family. Instead of hitting strings as in a piano, the celesta’s keys/hammers hit small steel plates cre-

ating high, clear, delicate tones. Its sound is celestial (where the name comes from) and conjures

feelings of wonder and magic. In the “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy,” Tchaikovsky uses the celesta

to help create the magical, alternate reality in which Marie finds herself.

Many composers have used the celesta to create magical or mysterious effects. Listen to:

“Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” (part of the musical selections on the flash drive)

“Hedwig’s Theme” from the Harry Potter movie series, by John Williams (scroll down to click on

arrow)

“Won’t You Be My Neighbor” (Theme song for Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood television show), by

Fred Rogers

“Neptune, the Mystic,” from The Planets, an orchestral suite by Gustav Holst

Photo by Gregory Maxwell.

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Cast List and Setting for PBT’s The Nutcracker

ACT I

Marie Stahlbaum

Drosselmeyer

His Nephew

Mrs. Stahlbaum

Dr. Stahlbaum

Fritz, Marie’s brother

Grandmother

Grandfather

Mr. and Mrs. Grandview

Mr. and Mrs. Heinz

Mr. and Mrs. Kaufmann

Aunt Hortense

Aunt Gertrude

General

Mr. McTavish

Young McTavish

Harlequin

Columbina

Pirate

The Nutcracker

Rat King

Rats

Snow Queen

Snow King

Snowflakes

ACT II

The Prince

Flowers

Spanish dancers

Chinese dancers

Arabian dancers

Russian dancers

Shepherdesses

Ringmaster

Sugarplum Fairy

Sugarplum Cavalier

Overview of the Setting

In Pittsburgh in the early years of the 20th century, on Christmas Eve

Act 1, Scene 1: The Stahlbaum’s home—the F.W. McKee house in Shadyside

Act 1, Scene 2: A Snowy Forest—the view from Mt. Washington

Act 2, Scene 1: The Land of Enchantment—an amusement park inspired by Pittsburgh

carousels.

Did You Know? Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker

Tchaikovsky didn’t particularly want to create a ballet based on the story of The Nutcracker. He

worried whether it was suitable for ballet and generally felt uninspired at the beginning of the

project. He did become “more attuned to the task” as time went on.

The original ballet is only 85 minutes long, much shorter than Tchaikovsky’s other ballets, Swan

Lake (approximately 2 hours) and The Sleeping Beauty (almost 4 hours).

Tchaikovsky felt that The Nutcracker was “infinitely poorer” than his music for The Sleeping

Beauty.

Tchaikovsky’s sister died during the time he was composing The Nutcracker. Scholars have

suggested that music for “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” was an expression of Tchaikovsky’s

grief, noting its descending octaves and funereal rhythm, contrasting with the “heavenly” sound

of the celesta.

Tchaikovsky based the Arabian Dance—meant to sound exotic and Middle-Eastern—on a

Georgian (Russian) lullaby.

Tchaikovsky died from cholera at age 53, eleven months after the premiere of The Nutcracker.

Jazz greats Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn (who grew up in Pittsburgh) created a jazz

version of The Nutcracker Suite in 1960.

Cast List (in order of appearance):

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Synopsis of PBT’s The Nutcracker

Act 1

It is Christmas Eve in the early years of the 20th century at the Stahlbaum home in Shadyside. On

the street outside, Godfather Drosselmeyer and his Nephew unload mysterious packages from their carriage. The guests begin to arrive and as Drosselmeyer introduces them to his Nephew, they are repulsed by his deformed countenance. Drosselmeyer consoles his Nephew and unveils the Nutcracker, revealing its role in this night of magic.

In her bedroom Marie, the Stahlbaum's daughter, is reading Kaufmann’s Christmas Stories for Boys and Girls. Dr. and Mrs. Stahlbaum enter and present her with two special gifts – a beautiful scarf and a pair of pointe shoes – that signify Marie's coming of age as a young woman. Marie

admires her new self in the mirror and sees a vision from her dreams of a beautiful fairy ballerina.

Drosselmeyer and his Nephew finish their preparations for the party. Alone, Drosselmeyer clutches the Nutcracker and remembers how his Nephew came to be cursed by the dreaded seven-headed Rat King. Will tonight be the night the curse is broken?

The party is under way, and the guests exchange gifts, trim the tree and dance. Drosselmeyer's magic tricks delight the children, but he has even bigger mysteries in store for Marie. He introduces her to his Nephew, and as Drosselmeyer had hoped,

Marie sees through the Nephew's affliction to the goodness within him. Next he gives her the Nutcracker, which she adores. The party concludes with Drosselmeyer's magical pièce de résistance, a trick which upsets Marie so much that she runs upstairs. The guests say their goodbyes and the family retires for the night.

Drosselmeyer reappears in a swirl of his cape to set the stage for the magic night to come. As midnight approaches, Marie steals downstairs to find her beloved Nutcracker. But Marie is not alone; mice and human-sized rats threaten her from every side. Overcome with fright, she faints. When she comes to, she finds herself and the whole house under a spell. Everything is growing, even the Nutcracker, who becomes life-sized. The mice and rats return to terrify Marie, but Nutcracker rallies the toy soldiers and storybook characters to rescue Marie.

Top: Stephen Hadala as Drosselmeyer and students of PBT

School, 2011. Right: Cooper Verona as the Rat King and

Christopher Budzynski as the Nutcracker, 2012. Photos by

Rich Sofranko.

NOTE! An elementary level version of the synopsis can be found on page 47.

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As the battle reaches its peak, Marie's

compassion for the Nutcracker ensures

victory over the King of the Rats, and the

Nutcracker is transformed into a handsome

Prince. He invites Marie on a journey

through the glittering snowy forest to the Land

of Enchantment. Guided by the Snow King

and Queen, they set off on a magical sleigh

ride.

Act II

Drosselmeyer prepares the way for the arrival

of Marie and the Prince in the Land of

Enchantment, where the Sugar Plum Fairy,

the vision of Marie's dreams, and her Cavalier greet the travelers. The Prince relates the tale of the

battle, telling how Marie saved his life by helping to defeat the Rat King. In gratitude, the Sugar Plum

Fairy presents Marie with a beautiful gift (a tiara). Marie expresses her appreciation in a dance with

the Flowers.

The grand festival begins, with dancers from many lands entertaining Marie and the Prince. Her visit

to the Land of Enchantment culminates with a Grand Pas de Deux danced by the Sugar Plum Fairy

and her Cavalier.

Suddenly, Christmas Day dawns on the street outside

the Stahlbaum home. Drosselmeyer and his Nephew

make their way to their carriage, stopping to reflect on

the night's wondrous proceedings. Marie's

compassion has broken the Rat King's curse and the

Nephew's handsome face is restored. Marie awakens

in her bedroom, wondering at the fantastic nature of

the night's events. Was it all a dream? She finds her

beautiful scarf, a souvenir of her visit to the Land of

Enchantment. Can it be? She rushes to the mirror

and there, ever faithful, is her Nutcracker Prince.

Top: Julia Erickson and Robert Moore as the Snow Queen and King, 2011. Left: Christine Schwaner as Marie, 2012. Both photos

feature artists of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and PBT School. Photos by Rich Sofranko.

The Pittsburgh Connection

Artistic Director Terrence Orr added numerous Pittsburgh elements to the ballet to make The

Nutcracker a uniquely local experience. Connect your students with the city’s history and discuss

these elements in class prior to your visit to the Benedum. Watch closely for these elements during

the ballet. Review the list with the class after the performance—how many do they remember?

The Clock

At the top of the proscenium (the arch between the stage and the audience) is a large clock with the

Nutcracker’s face at the center. This clock was inspired by the famous Kaufmann's Clock on the

corner of Kaufmann's Department Store at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Smithfield Street in

downtown Pittsburgh. Meeting under Kaufmann's clock was a Pittsburgh tradition for many years.

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The Opening Showdrop

The first image you see in the ballet is a rendering

of the F.W. McKee mansion, a large, stately home

that was on Fifth Avenue in the Shadyside section

of Pittsburgh. McKee was an attorney whose father

founded one of the pioneer glass-manufacturing

firms in Pittsburgh, McKee and Brothers. The

McKees also owned a large estate in Butler County

where Mr. McKee founded the town of West

Winfield. When he and his family left the home on

Fifth Avenue, it is thought that it may have passed

down through his sister's family. The home was torn

down to make way for apartment buildings.

Kaufmann’s Christmas Stories for Boys and Girls

Early in the 20th century, Kaufmann's Department Store commissioned a

Christmas storybook, Kaufmann’s Christmas Stories for Boys and Girls.

During planning for The Nutcracker, a PBT board member found a copy of

this storybook, believed to have been published between 1904-1906. Mr.

Orr incorporated it into several scenes: Marie reads the book at the

beginning of the ballet; it appears under the Christmas tree with the other

gifts at the party; the storybook grows as the whole room becomes larger

than life; and Drosselmeyer "turns the pages" as the magical story unfolds.

In the battle scene, many of the characters who rally to help the Nutcrack-

er literally come out of the book.

The Party Guests

Although the Stahlbaum family name is taken directly from the E.T.A. Hoff-

mann tale, Mr. Orr invited some Pittsburgh guests to the party. Significant families in Pittsburgh his-

tory are represented by Mr. and Mrs. Kaufmann, Mr. and Mrs. Heinz, and Mr. and Mrs. Grandview

(named for the avenue on Mt. Washington). With his kilt and traditional Scottish dance, Mr.

McTavish represents the famous Scottish Pittsburgher, Andrew Carnegie.

The Journey through the Snowy Forest

One of the most beautiful vistas in Western

Pennsylvania is the view from Mt. Washington’s

Grandview Avenue. Looking down on the Point and

the downtown area, you can see the three rivers and

many of the bridges that cross them. The backdrop

behind the snow scene is an artistic rendering of this

vista. It’s pictured as it might have looked at the time in

which the ballet is set, around the turn of the 20th

century.

Artwork for both showdrops on this page by designer Zack Brown.

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The Choreography

While many productions of The Nutcracker follow the same basic story and general choreography, each version is a unique creation of the choreographer who stages it. Watch for these elements in the movements your students see on stage.

Marie and the Nephew

In many productions of The Nutcracker, Marie is cast as a child. Mr. Orr conceived of her and the Nephew/Prince as teenagers, which allowed him to cast adult Company dancers as believable charac-ters in the roles. He created more advanced, complex choreography for them than is present in many other productions, and developed a romantic relationship between the two.

Drosselmeyer

Drosselmeyer traditionally sets the stage for events in the story and creates visual magic to delight the audience. In PBT’s version, he also drives the storyline. Mr. Orr gave the character substantial dance choreography—not always the case in other ballet versions—including a pas de trois (dance for three) with Marie and the Prince.

The Party Scene and Battle These scenes offer challenges to a choreographer. Watch for these elements in the ballet to see how they are handled choreographically:

a very large cast on stage all at once covering a wide range of ages and levels of ability

many young children

costumes that may limit movement

animals and toys whose choreography should reflect their characters

Snow Scene Mr. Orr took his inspiration for the snow scene from a real snow scene at his former country home in Connecticut. Looking out on the snow-covered hills from his deck he would watch how the wind swirled the snowflakes, always in circular patterns. Watch for the circles in shapes and steps in the choreography here.

Ringmaster with Clowns This scene is a showcase for young dancers. Filled with whimsy and acrobatic movements, it’s a lively take on the carousel theme in Act II. Top: Alexandra Kochis and Christopher Budzynski, 2011, photo by Rich Sofranko.

Stephen Hadala as Drosselmeyer, 2012, photo by Aimee DiAndrea. The battle

scene, with students of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, 2010. photo by Rich

Sofranko. The “Snow Scene,” 2013; photo by Aimee DiAndrea. PBT students as the

clowns, 2011. photo by Rich Sofranko.

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Divertissements

Divertissement (literally, a diversion) refers to a complete dance, for one or more dancers, that is usually part of a larger ballet. (A variation is a solo dance.) All Nutcracker productions traditionally have four divertissements in Act II that highlight traditional dress, music, and dance steps from other lands.

Spanish – graceful port de bras (movement of the arms) of classical Spanish dance, quick turning or snapping of the head at the end of a musical phrase.

Chinese – traditional Chinese ribbon dance; dancers hold ribbons on sticks that they twirl and ripple. A Chinese dragon, a symbol of power and royalty, is carried by six dancers as it undulates overhead. Traditionally, the eyes of the dragon are blank. Before the premiere performance in 2002, a ceremony was held in which the dragon’s eyes were colored with red ink, which is thought to “awaken” the dragon and bring prosperity to the community.

Arabian – exotic weaving of arms and legs; slithering snake-like partnering and distinctly “Arabian” angular poses of the head and arms.

Russian – inspired by the Trepak, a traditional Ukranian folk dance known for its acrobatic feats and technical difficulty.

Top to bottom: Amanda Cochrane, Diana Yohe, 2012, photo by Aimee DiAndrea; Casey Taylor,

2012, by Aimee DiAndrea; Robert Moore and Danielle Downey, 2012, photo by Aimee DiAndrea;

Luca Sbrizzi and Nicholas Coppula, 2010, photo by Rich Sofranko.

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BALANCÉ

Balancé is a rocking step that is usually

executed in three counts. The dancer shifts

her weight from one foot to the other in a

“down up down” sequence to 3/4 time. The

step begins in fifth position plié. Before the

first count, one foot extends in a degagé

(slightly lifted off the floor) usually to second

position. The foot may cross in front or in

back. Balancé is also sometimes called the

“waltzing step.” Watch for the balancé step

in the party dances, the “Waltz of the

Snowflakes,” and the “Waltz of the Flowers.”

Danielle Downey, Kaori Ogasawara, Nurlan Abougaliev and PBT

artists, 2007. Photo by Rich Sofranko.

The choreography of The Nutcracker is packed with challenging steps and technique. Watch for pirouettes and balancés throughout the ballet.

PIROUETTE One of the most familiar ballet terms, pirouette literally means to "whirl.” It is a controlled turn on one leg, with the non-supporting leg turning out or inward toward the supporting leg. The turn usually starts with one or both legs in plié (bent knee) and then rises to straight leg and onto pointe (the tip of the toe) for women, or onto demi-pointe (the ball of the foot) for men. The non-supporting leg can be held in various positions. Pirouettes can be done as a single turn or in multiple rotations. Turning technique includes spotting—when the dancers fixes her gaze on a single spot while turning. The pirouette can take many different forms.

Snow Queen and King Pas de Deux At the end of Act I, the Snow King and Queen dance with the Snowflakes in the forest. The Snowflakes perform a series of pirouettes enchaînement (in a “chain” or linked sequence). The mass of simultaneous pirouettes creates a beautiful, glittery blizzard effect on stage. Arabian Dance In Act II, Marie and the Prince are entertained by exotic Arabian dancers. Watch for the finger pirouette in this dance: the male partner twirls and supports the ballerina as she holds onto just one of his fingers for balance. This is an example of pirouette en dehors, with the non-supporting leg turning out, away from the supporting leg, and the turn is executed outward. The Sugarplum Pas de Deux Also in Act II, the Sugarplum Fairy and Sugarplum Cavalier perform a pas de deux to the ballet’s most famous music, Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy. Notice the several supported pirouettes, where the Cavalier balances and twirls his partner. The Sugarplum Fairy performs a series of dazzling pirouettes enchainement, a triumphant sequence for only the most expert of ballerinas.

Signature Steps—Pirouette and Balancé

The Snow Queen (Amanda

Cochrane) completes a pirouette,

2012, photo by Aimee DiAndrea.

18

The Costumes

Building costumes for a new ballet production involves inspiration, research, and technical decisions about construction. Zack Brown, Scenic and Costume Designer, and Janet Marie Groom, PBT's Costumier, (a person who makes or buids theatrical costumers) share information about their work on the production.

ZACK BROWN

Design, fabric, and construction are the important elements. Dance clothes are difficult. Laundering is a major factor because more than one person usually wears each costume, and physical exertion of dance produces much perspiration. These two factors mean that costumes must often be washed or cleaned. It also makes them deteriorate, and then they have to be replaced. Re-makes are done all the time.

Artistic Director Terrence Orr gave me parameters that helped focus my ideas. The size of the budget also has a big influence on decisions. Some of the guidelines that were helpful in my decisions were:

1. “Chinese” costumes should be red and yellow. They should also have some representation of the sun.

2. “Arabian” should include a scarf or veil for the woman. There can be nothing abrasive on the costume because the man does not wear a shirt, and there is so much body contact between the dancers that he would get all scratched.

3. The overall look of the production should be like a storybook that comes alive.

These guidelines and others like them helped me choose the overall color palette and styles for the costumes. Using historical research, my own imagination and talent, conversations with Terrence Orr, and the inspiration of the music with its rich orchestral colors and sweeping melodies, I was able to design the vibrant, colorful, sumptuous costumes you will see. JANET MARIE GROOM Costumes are “built”, not made. The reason we say they

are “built” is because more is involved than just cutting out

a pattern and sewing seams. Fabrics sometimes must be

dyed to get just the right shade and to make sure that the

various fabric colors match or coordinate perfectly. Se-

quins and jewels must be sewn on by hand. Sometimes

they also have to be dyed to match the fabric. Many layers

of tulle have to be cut to make the tutu skirts. The edges

are not usually straight but scalloped or pointed. These are

all cut by hand. All of these things must be done with the

movement of the dancers being the first consideration.

There are 215 costumes for this Nutcracker produc-

tion.;110 of them were built in Pittsburgh in PBT’s costume

shop. The rest were built at shops in New York and

Washington, D.C.

Each costume is often made of many pieces that have to be carefully stored. The following descriptions are for two of the costumes from Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre's production of The Nutcracker. They give some insight into how elaborate these costumes can be.

19

Toy Soldier White pants have gold stripes down the sides. Suspenders that are not seen have a row of buttonholes to allow for adjustment on dancers of different heights.

Boot tops are attached to the shoes or to a toe sock that goes inside the shoe.

Elaborate sleeves with hand-sewn welts and large white cuffs are attached to a t-shirt that fastens in the front and is worn under the jacket.

Buttons are sewn on the jacket, but the chains are attached behind the buttons with elastic.

The wide belt attaches on the side.

The hat is held on by a chin strap. Some of the hats are attached to a mask-like face.

Snowflake

Skirt is separate from the bodice and attached together with button tapes that allow for height adjustment.

Snowflakes, elaborately decorated with hand-sewn sequins of several kinds, are attached to the bodice.

Four layers of fabric make up the skirt: white tulle on top, blue sparkle tulle, white with silver sparkles, white tulle with white flocked hearts.

All the hems of all the tulle layers are cut in points. There are more than 20 snowflake costumes with a total of 10,580 points, and all of them were cut by hand by one person. Gabrielle Thurlow, photo by Aimee DiAndrea, 2012.

More Nutcracker designs by Zack Brown

The Rat King Arabian The Nutcracker

20

The complexity of staging a big production such as PBT's The Nutcracker can be an amazing

technical feat! Many things are hidden from view so the audience sees only seamless transitions

from one scene to another—flawless and magical. The massive sets and complicated devices

used to achieve the delightful visions are sometimes anything but seamless and flawless. Learn

the

secrets of some of the mechanical and scientific elements of scenery and lighting used to create

the enchantment and wonder of The Nutcracker.

Act I – The Stahlbaum Home

Act I begins with the bustling arrival of party guests on the sidewalk in front of the Stahlbaum

home. The picture of the home is painted on a scrim, which is a large piece of sheer fabric hung

from a pole high above the stage. When the light projects on the scrim from the front, it is opaque

and you see what is painted on the scrim. However, when an object behind the scrim is lit, the

scrim seems to disappear and that object is seen. Watch at the beginning of Act I when Marie’s

bedroom appears and the house exterior vanishes—a great example of how a scrim and lighting

work together.

Act II – The Carousel Canopy

Known affectionately by the stagehands as "The Squid," this

octopus-like mechanical monster operates in a manner

similar to an umbrella. Like an umbrella, one pushes the

mechanism upward, sliding it along the center pole forcing

the spokes to open the cover. Then, it’s pulled downward

along the pole to close it. (If possible, demonstrate this in

class with an umbrella.) See below for additional details.

Photo by Rich Sofranko, 2012.

Scenic Design

Dancing as a profession is a lifelong pursuit, beginning early (sometimes as young as age two) and continuing through many years of rigorous training. Especially during their school years, dancers’ lives are very scheduled! In many ways, however, they are just like everybody else. Learn more about the lives of PBT’s dancers on our website.

PBT Company dancers, 2012. Photo by Aimee DiAndrea

Getting to Know PBT’s Dancers

Here’s the idea! On the left is a normal view of an umbrella. You push

upward to open. The inverted umbrella on the right is how the Nutcracker

carousel works—it’s as if the wind has blown your umbrella inside-out. The

mechanism pushes downward to open and expand the carousel.

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The Benedum Center

Accessibility

PBT is committed to being an inclusive arts organization that serves everyone in the greater Pittsburgh community through its productions and programs.

In conjunction with the Benedum Center for Performing Arts, the following accessibility services are provided to patrons:

Wheelchair accessibility

Braille and large print programs

Assistive listening devices

Audio recordings of select program notes

Audio-described performances (Sunday, Dec. 4 & 11, 2016 at 4:30 for The Nutcracker).

For more information about all of these programs please visit the accessibility page on PBT’s website. Should you have a special request that is not listed above or have any questions about our accessibility services, please do not hesitate to contact Christina Salgado, Director of Educa-tion and Community Engagement, at 412-454-9105 or csalgado@pittsburghballet.org.

For more information about the accessibility services at the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts, please visit their accessibility page.

The Benedum Center for the Performing Arts is the crown

jewel of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and the Cultural

District in downtown Pittsburgh. It was renovated in 1987

and is on the National Register of Historic Landmarks.

The 2800 seat theatre used to be the Stanley Theater,

still visible on the lighted marquees outside. It has the

third largest stage in the United States measuring 144

feet wide by 78 feet deep. The Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre,

Pittsburgh Opera, and Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera all

use the Benedum for their performances.

Learn more about the Benedum Center. Investigate the Stanley Theatre’s role in music history

here in Pittsburgh.

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A Nutcracker Word Search

Find the hidden words!

Arabian Dance

Ballet

Battle

Carousel

Drosselmeyer

Mt. Washington

Nephew

Nutcracker

Rat King

Scarf

Snow Queen

Soldier

Sugar Plum Fairy

Tchaikovsky

Tutu

(answer key on last page)

E G T H N T X X P S R W N Q K

C C R C E E V P N R E P U D P

G D N L H T P O F N Y R T S Y

V N L A U A W H E O E E C C H

W A I T D Q I C E B M I R A H

B J U K U N J K H W L D A R S

A R W E T X A A O H E L C F K

H B E Z F A J I P V S O K A C

W N R I U B R L B D S S E F M

L E S U O R A C L A O K R R G

B A T T L E T W E S R S Y D E

O X T B G E H T O L D A W S N

M T W A S H I N G T O N C R K

N C R N Y V X Z Q W O U B G U

Y R I A F M U L P R A G U S K

23

The clock at the top of the proscenium (above the curtain) tracks time during the ballet. Have your students make a clock and practice setting it to the times you will see in the ballet.

Materials

Paper plates or circles cut out of paper

Brass brad clips

Number templates and arrows (next page)

Nutcracker face (below)—to go in the middle of the clock face

Clock Times in The Nutcracker Ballet

4:15 (PM) Before curtain opens

5:40 Curtain opens on street scene

6:15 Street scene, boy leaves stage with sled loaded with presents

7:35 Marie and parents in her room before party

7:55 Street scene before party

8:15 Pirate dance

9:45 Guests leave party

12:00 (Midnight) The Magic Begins!

7:45 (AM) Marie awakens

It’s Nutcracker Time! A Clock Activity

24

1 2 3

4 5 6

7 8 9

10 11 12

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Kaufmann’s Christmas Book Activity

Explore this image from the cover of Kaufmann’s Christmas stories book from 1906. Santa’s work-shop is full and busy! Find and circle the items listed below. You can also color the picture!

Ruler ▪ Pipe ▪ Saw ▪ Doll ▪ Button ▪ Sled ▪ Spinning Top ▪ Spatula ▪ Drum ▪ Feather

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PBT’s The Nutcracker is adapted so that its location is in Pittsburgh! (Other ballet companies may use their own cities as the location). Mark the approximate locations of the story’s landmarks and scenes on a map of Pittsburgh.

Map The Nutcracker Journey!

In the ballet, Marie and the Prince magically travel from Marie’s home to the Land of Enchantment and back. In the real world, though, they would have to take streets to get there! Help them find their way using Pittsburgh’s roadways. First, mark your map with the locations in the box above. Then, using the directions below, use a colored marker to trace route that Marie and the Prince would have to take in their journey. If you see more than one route, trace it in a different color.

1. Marie and the Prince travel from the Stahlbaum home to Mt. Washington to see the Snow King

and Queen (and the Snowflakes) present a beautiful dance.

2. Marie and the Prince travel from Mt. Washington to the Land of Enchantment (Kennywood

Park).

3. Marie travels from the Land of Enchantment back to the Stahlbaum home where she wakes up

the next morning.

Spot Other Landmarks! See if you can find these landmarks. (Warning! The writing on this map can be very small!)

The Point Glenwood Bridge A city boundary line An incline (count how many there are!) The South Hills Tunnel (now Fort Pitt Tunnel) Boroughs of Swissvale and Fineview Liberty Ave. Craig St. Downtown

The Stahlbaum Family Home At the corner of Fifth Avenue and S. Highland Avenue

Kaufmann’s Department Store

Downtown on Fifth Ave.

Amusement Park and Carousel

Kennywood Park

The Snow Scene Mt. Washington

Nutcracker Map Activity

27 Sti

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28

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This listening guide provides a look at the music of The Nutcracker. Musical excerpts are provided on the Teacher Resource flash drive. See the glossary on the next page for terms in bold.

The Battle

The Rat King’s imminent attack is announced by the tension-filled tremolos and theme in the oboe. With a momentary pause after the oboe completes its phrase, a loud cannon introduces the Nutcracker’s soldiers. The oboe’s previous theme is taken up by the bassoon, while the upper woodwinds provide march-like melodies. The battle itself begins with drumrolls and military wood-winds take the role of the Nutcracker’s soldiers, while the ominous brass mimic the rats. The themes call and respond to each other while the percussion instruments continue to represent the gunshots. The music reaches a climax with a clash of the cymbals as the Nutcracker stabs the Rat King, and the orchestra’s wild sixteenth-note runs wind down.

Waltz of the Snowflakes

In the snowy forest, the delicate snowflakes’ waltz begins with whimsical flute flutters and pizzicato strings (Excerpt 13). With the marking cantabile indicating the only instance of singing in the ballet, the Snow Queen and King enter and prance impossibly lightly, followed by the Nutcracker and Marie (Excerpt 14). With the incorporation of the triangle and harp, the music leads to an intense and passionate phrase, ending with harp glissandos and a tutti fortissimo chord.

Arabian Dance

The stage darkens for the entrance of the gypsy-like Arabian dancers. The quiet, exotic flavor of the clarinets in minor mode sets the mood for the slow, sensual movement of the dance, with untraditional lifts and continuous snake-like movements. The Middle-Eastern flavor is enhanced by the solo oboe and English horn as the upper strings continue their quiet melody and the lower strings maintain constant sixteenths. The music fades out as mysteriously as it began.

Russian Dance

The Russian Dance, representing Tchaikovsky’s native country, demonstrates the grandness and intensity of Russian music through both the music and the costume designs. Also referred to as Trepak, this number was inspired by a traditional Ukrainian folk dance. The energized music and gymnastic dancing never slows, and the sixteenth-note patterns in the strings build and accelerate to a climactic end.

Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy

The delicate dance of the Sugarplum Fairy, in her sparkling tutu and tiara, features the celesta—the only instrument Tchaikovsky felt was worthy of her character. The music accompanies her move-ments perfectly, with solo woodwinds adding to the celesta’s unique tone and musical color. The dancing accelerates along with the music, and the Sugarplum Fairy twirls rapidly until a tutti chord ends the number.

Nutcracker Listening Guide

30

Glossary of Musical Terms

Accelerando—speed up

Arpeggio—a series of notes spelling a chord

Brass instruments—metal wind instruments, including trumpet, trombone, euphonium, and tuba

Canon—multiple simultaneous imitations of the melody beginning on different beats

Cantabile—in a singing style

Chord—a set of three or more notes played together

Crescendo—grow louder

Da capo—a return to the beginning section

Fermata—an orchestral note or rest held for an extended time

Fortissimo—very loud

Glissando—a continuous slide between two notes

Melody—a musical line or statement comprising a series of notes

Minor—a musical mode that sounds serious or sad, as opposed to major mode

Percussion—non-wind instruments, including celesta, timpani, snare drum, cymbals, bass drum, triangle, tambourine, castanets, tam-tam, and glockenspiel

Pizzicato—plucked strings

Presto—very quick

Sfz (Sforzando)—very loud and accented

Sixteenth notes—quick notes; four sixteenths per quarter notet

Staccato—short detached articulation

Strings—wooden instruments with strings, played by bowing or plucking, including: violins, violas, celli, and double bass

Tempo—pace of the music

Theme—a brief melody that forms the basis of a passage

Time signature—an indication of meter; 3/4 is felt in three beats, 4/4 in four beats, 6/8 in two beats that are each divided into three smaller beats

Tremolo—a wavering effect produced by quickly alternating between two notes

Tutti—all playing together

Winds—woodwinds and brass

Woodwinds—wind instruments, most of them made of wood, including clarinet, oboe, flute, bassoon, French horn, bass clarinet, and English horn

31

Entry Pointes are questions, topics, and areas of focus for educators to use and make connections between their curricula and the ballet. We offer meaningful connections in each content area of the Pennsylvania Academic Standards and provide numerous entry pointes for a multitude of different learners at all levels. Educators are encouraged to expand and adapt the entry pointes as neces-sary to meet the needs of their students and address certain standards. Other important notes about Entry Pointes:

After each individual entry pointe on the following pages is a suggested grade range (elementary,

middle, or high school) in parentheses.

Most of the information presented in the guide falls within an 8th-11th grade reading level

according to the Lexile® Framework for Reading. A chart with measures is listed on page 54.

PA Core Standards for English Language Arts ………………………………………...32 (PDE Academic Standards 1.1-1.5) PA Core Standards for Mathematics (PDE Academic Standards 2.1-2.11)………...35 Science and Technology and Engineering (PDE Academic Standards 3.1-3.4)…..37 Environment and Ecology (PDE Academic Standards 4.1-4.5)……………………....38 Civics and Government (PDE Academic Standards 5.1-5.4)……………………….....38 Economics (PDE Academic Standards 6.1-6.5)…………………………………..……..39 Geography (PDE Academic Standards 7.1-7.4)………………………………………….39 History (PDE Academic Standards 8.1-8.4)………………………………………………40 Arts and Humanities (PDE Academic Standards 9.1-9.4)……………………………...41 Health, Safety and Physical Education (PDE Academic Standards 10.1-10.5)……..43 Family and Consumer Sciences (PDE Academic Standards 11.1-11.4)…………….43 Career Education (PDE Academic Standards 13.1-13.4)………………………………44 Business and Computer IT (PDE Academic Standards 15:1-15:9)…………………..45 Lexile Reading Measures List ……………………………………………………………...46

Elementary Synopsis ………………………………………………………………………...47

Entry Pointes

32

PA Core Standards for English Language Arts (PDE Academic Standards 1.1-1.5) 1. Read E.T.A. Hoffmann’s story, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, written in 1816, and the synopsis of Terrence Orr’s version of The Nutcracker ballet found in this resource guide. Compare and contrast the two story versions, including characters, events, setting, and themes. (MS, HS) 2. Read the synopsis of The Nutcracker and develop a list of inferred character traits for various characters, including Marie, the Nephew, Drosselmeyer, and the Sugarplum Fairy using evidence from the text to support your argument. Next, read the snippet below from E.T.A. Hoffman’s story, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, that describes Drosselmeyer:

Based on the descriptions and inferences students make about the characters, write a short “Day in the Life” journal entry for one or more characters. (MS, HS) 3. Analyze various covers of The Nutcracker storybooks. What symbols, myths, and other information do the covers provide? Decide what elements are the best marketing tools for the story and design your own cover. (ES, MS) 4. Analyze the cover of Kaufmann’s Christmas Stories for Boys and Girls, the Kaufmann storybook included in this resource guide on page 25. What symbols, myths, and information does the cover provide? What is unexpected about the cover? Write your own short holiday story set in Pittsburgh to include in the Kaufmann book. (ES, MS) 5. Some versions of The Nutcracker have Marie waking up on Christmas morning and wondering if her time in the Land of Enchantment (or Kingdom of Sweets in other versions) was all a dream (you’ll have to wait and see if this is the case in PBT’s version of The Nutcracker!). Write a story or draw a detailed storyboard (if possible using a digital technology tool) for a main character that finds themselves in a fantasy world and then returns home at the end. Share stories among students and keep a list of the different ways the characters go to and from the fantasy lands and how many characters believe their fantasy trip was real, unreal, or uncertain. (MS, HS) 6. Read a storybook version of The Nutcracker. In small groups draw pictures or write a recount of three important scenes from the story. As a whole class put the pictures together on a wall to create a story line. What events are most represented on the story line? What events from the story are missing? (ES)

7. Using evidence from the text and ballet to support your word and language choices, write a formal thank you note from one of the following character’s perspective:

Marie thanking her father for her scarf

The Nutcracker thanking Marie for her help in defeating the Rat King

A party guest thanking the Stahlbaums for their Christmas Eve party

Entry Pointes

Drosselmeyer “was anything but handsome. He was short and very thin, his face was

seamed with wrinkles, he had a big black patch where his right eye should have been,

and he had no hair at all, for which reason he wore a beautiful white wig, a real work

of art."

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8. The carousel in PBT’s production of The Nutcracker is a very complex part of the set design. (For a description of how it operates, see page 20.) Mr. Orr wanted to include a carousel in this production to pay tribute to the two dozen amusement parks that once entertained families in the Pittsburgh region. Currently three carousels remain in our area: two historic carousels at Kennywood and Idylwild, and a modern carousel (based on a 1913 carousel) at Schenley Plaza. Review a list of carousel characters from the carousel at Schenley Plaza. Design your own theme for a carousel, creating a complete list of characters and drawing one or more characters. Write a brief explanation of what theme you chose and why. Research the history and cultural importance of the carousel to write an informative essay (ES, MS, HS) 9. The Sugarplum Fairy thanks Marie for helping the Nutcracker defeat the Rat King by pre-senting her with a grand celebration of dance. If the Sugarplum Fairy could speak, what would she say? Write a speech for the Sugar Plum Fairy that expresses her gratitude for Marie’s help using evidence from the ballet to support your word choices. (MS, HS) 10. Every version of The Nutcracker seems slightly different from each other. Read the storybook version of The Nutcracker provided on the flash drive and chart the similarities and differences be-tween the storybook and PBT’s production of The Nutcracker based on the synopsis in this Guide. A Venn Diagram or other story organizer can be used. (ES, MS) 11. Through every retelling of a story, details change depending upon the storyteller. Experience this mutability by orally retelling the story of The Nutcracker--without notes--to a friend. Journal about what you noticed about the version you told and how you felt during the storytelling experi-ence. Discuss the impact of oral storytelling on literature traditions. (ES, MS, HS) 12. Write a short story that shares a similar structure to The Nutcracker. Include the following elements: a party, guest, a very special guest, a magical gift, and a moment when everything changes. Share stories and peer review, looking at similarities and differences with The Nutcrack-er story. (ES, MS, HS) 13. The Nutcracker includes many toys that come alive, a feature in literature called “personification.” Bring a toy or object from home and describe its qualities using all of your senses. What is the purpose of the object? Imagine yourself as the object. How would you move as the object? How would your object relate to other objects and move together (or not) with them? Write a narrative from the object’s perspective. (ES, MS) 14. Create a poem about the story of The Nutcracker. Explore different poetic forms, such as haiku, limerick, or cinquain. (MS, HS)

15. Create “treasure hunts” using the internet around one aspect of The Nutcracker: music, chore-ography, past productions, the story and characters, and costumes. Ask questions about the topic, find the answers to the questions for an answer key, then share treasure hunts with other groups to complete. Keep track of keyword search and the websites utilized. After groups have completed each others’ treasure hunts, discuss how information was acquired, what keywords were most successful and why, tips for doing online research, and ways to determine the quality of a website. (MS, HS)

16. Write a book review of a storybook version of The Nutcracker or E.T.A. Hoffmann’s story. Summarize the story, highlight the main characters, discuss setting and themes, and describe why this book should or should not be read by others in a persuasive manner using evidence from the text. (ES, MS, HS)

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17. Drosselmeyer is an important and mysterious character in The Nutcracker. Who is Drosselmeyer? How do you think he creates such amazing party acts? Is he a magician, a wizard, or maybe a scientist? Create your own background story about Drosselmeyer. (ES, MS, HS)

18. Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s production of The Nutcracker is very Pittsburgh specific. As a result, changes had to be made to the traditional storyline and performance. Research both the story and performance and write a review addressing the following points:

1. How do the changes affect the story?

2. How do you change the ballet while still maintaining the integrity of the original?

3. How would audiences outside of Pittsburgh receive PBT’s production? (MS, HS)

19. Identify the following vocabulary words: celesta, lest, appreciation, prominent, commission, precocious, mysterious, countenance, clutch, affliction, pièce de résistance, rallies, enchantment, gratitude, tiara, wondrous, souvenir. How does each term relate to the production? (MS)

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Mathematics (PDE Academic Standards 2.1-2.11) 1. Stage lighting for productions uses a lot of energy! Answer the following math problems about stage lighting. Based on the units below, write your own word problems! (MS, HS)

Each “unit” of stage lighting might average 800 watts. If the average household light bulb uses 75 watts, how many household light bulbs would it take to equal just one unit of stage lighting? Round your answer to the nearest whole number (11 light bulbs)

There are approximately 575 units of stage lighting used in the production for each perfor-mance. How many total watts of energy are used in one performance? (460,000)

Check the program or online at www.pbt.org for the total number of performances of The Nut-cracker. Calculate the total amount of wattage used for The Nutcracker. (In 2016, there are 26 performances).

Now calculate the number of household bulbs it would take to equal all the wattage used throughout the production run of The Nutcracker! Round your answer to the nearest whole number.

2. In small groups, choose one toy that you will see in The Nutcracker (a Nutcracker, a hula hoop, a Jack-in-the-Box, Raggedy Ann doll, Teddy Bear, Doll House). Calculate how much the toys would have cost in 1913 (the first year available) on the following website: http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl. Calculate the rate of inflation from 1913 to 2016. (ES, MS)

3. Choreographers utilize a variety of shapes and line patterns when creating dances that depend upon how many dancers they have onstage at one time and what ideas they are trying to convey. Some line patterns include parallel lines, diagonal lines, perpendicular lines (an X), grid formation, and staggered formation. Some shapes to make are circular, triangular, square, hexagonal, or pentagonal. Some of the patterns and shapes resemble the idea that is being conveyed or an object, such as flower or a snowflake. Watch for various patterns during the production and record when they are used in the production and how or why that pattern or shape is being used. Some scenes to pay careful attention to are the Snowflake dance and the Waltz of the Flowers. (ES, MS, HS) 4. Shapes and patterns also come into play in the fanciful costumes of The Nutcracker. Search for interesting shapes and patterns as you watch the performances. Afterwards, try to draw the costumes you remember and name the shapes that are used in it. (ES, MS) 5. Explore transformational geometry through various poses of The Nutcracker. Brainstorm scenes and moments from the production to emulate. One student freezes in a pose from the production. Another student then takes a position that is a reflection, rotation, or translation of that original pose. Everyone in the class can participate at once to create a corps of dancing geometric figures. Perform and record the pieces with digital technology and have students reflect on their creations. (ES, MS)

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6. Dance choreography involves many mathematical concepts. During the performance make a note of the various mathematical concepts you see being used. (ES, MS, HS)

7. The children at the party play a hand-clapping game. In partners, develop your own handclap-ping game with an established rhythm and pattern. Try patterns of different length (3 claps, 4 claps, 6 claps, etc.) or work on patterns that include multiples (2, 4, 6, 8 or 3, 6, 9) etc. (ES, MS)

8. With so many performers on the stage at one time, how does the choreographer keep everyone from running into each other? How does he or she divide the space? How do the dancers know exactly where to be? How do dancers adjust to a smaller or larger stage? (MS, HS)

9. Set designers have the important job of making the stage look realistic. How do set designers make sets look proportionately correct? How do they show depth? (MS, HS)

10. Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre brings its own special floor to the Benedum Center for performances. Research the type of floor that is best for dancers to use and find out its cost by square foot. Then, find out the size of the stage. Consider transportation costs when bringing the floor to the Bene-dum five times a year. How much in total would it cost to provide a special floor for the dancers annually? (HS)

11. Based on the idea that the nutcracker toy becomes the size of an actual human, calculate how large the ordinary objects would become under this spell. (MS, HS)

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Science and Technology and Engineering (PDE Academic Standards 3.1-3.4) 1. Investigate the amount of force required to crack a nut in a nutcracker using different-sized nutcrackers and various nuts (almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, etc.) (MS, HS) 2. Snowflakes appear in the “Journey to the Snowy Forest” scene. Research and investigate how snowflakes form and how temperature plays a role in snowflake formation. For advanced students, research snowfall patterns in the state of Pennsylvania and/or the United States. How does geography, such as mountains and large bodies of water, impact snowfall amount totals? (ES, MS, HS)

3. Lighting for a production of The Nutcracker uses a range of colors, saturations, and intensity to achieve the various settings and dream-like quality of the production. Using scraps of different colored cellophane and a flashlight and/or a lamp, experiment with the different color combinations and intensity of light (concentrated or diffused) you can create. What effects and moods might different colors have on various scenes? Brainstorm qualities to each color combination and, after reading the synopsis for The Nutcracker, decide what colors would best fit each scene’s mood. Watch during the performance to see all the different colors used! (ES, MS) 4. In the background of the Stahlbaum party, a full moon illuminates the scene. What are the stages of the moon cycle? During which years has there been a full moon near Christmas Eve? (ES, MS)

5. Look at the image of Santa’s workshop on the cover of Kaufmann’s Christmas Stories for Boys and Girls on page 25. What kinds of technology are shown in Santa’s Workshop? Do we still use these tools and this technology? What kinds of tools do we use now that wouldn’t have been used in 1906? (ES, MS)

6. Props, or properties, are the small objects handled by the dancers in a production. The props in The Nutcracker go through quite a beating—sometimes literally—throughout the course of the production. Take for instance the giant fork sword used during the fight between the Rat King and his mice and the Nutcracker. It has to be able to be handled by the dancers and tossed to the ground night after night after night. Choose one prop from the production that you saw. How was that prop used in the show (Picked up? Dropped? Etc.)? Engineer and design your own version of that prop, taking into consideration materials you could use, how the prop is utilized, and keeping costs as low as possible! (MS, HS)

7. In the Ringmaster and circus scene, the clowns build a human pyramid. Explore the ge-ometric and physical nature of the pyramid. How is weight distributed evenly? How are parts con-nected and held together? Where are strong and weak points in the pyramid? If possible and with correct safety measures in place, build your own human pyramid. How do you ensure stability and even distribution of weight and mass? (ES, MS) 8. Tchaikovsky used a celesta (a type of keyboard instrument) for the dance of the Sugarplum Fairy. The celesta was a new instrument at the time and had not been used in Russian music prior to The Nutcracker. Think of things being done in popular music that are new sounds and how digital technology has changed music production. (MS, HS)

9. Compare the mechanisms used to create sound on a piano, harpsichord, and celeste. The three look like a piano, but they are very different inside. Would amplification be needed at a live performance? (MS, HS)

38

Environment and Ecology (PDE Academic Standards 4.1-4.5) 1. Research Nutcracker dolls. What resources are needed to make the dolls, and how are these resources transformed from their raw form to a finished Nutcracker doll? What kinds of paints are used to decorate the dolls? How are the materials used to make a Nutcracker doll today different from those used 100 years ago? (MS, HS) 2. Costumes for a production like The Nutcracker get dirty quickly from sweat, the “snow,” and make-up. Research how ballet costumes are laundered. What detergents, if any, are used, and how much water is consumed? Brainstorm ways that ballet companies could reduce their resource consumption (water, energy, detergents, etc.) and become “greener.” (HS)

Civics and Government (PDE Academic Standards 5.1-5.4) 1. Identify national holidays for the various countries represented in The Nutcracker: Spain, China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. How and why do these holidays differ from their counterparts in the Unit-ed States? (ES, MS)

2. What was the cultural scene in Pittsburgh in 1900? Research the major cultural institutions. Were cultural resources available to the average person? Who was responsible for the funding of these institutions? Also, why was culture such as music, art, and museums so important? What still exists today? (MS, HS)

3. The Nutcracker includes dances that have characteristics that come from Spain, China, Russia, and the Middle East. Compare the movements you see in each dance. How are the dances different from each other in terms of movement?.

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Economics (PDE Academic Standards 6.1-6.5) 1. Tchaikovsky was fortunate to have an anonymous patron who supported and subsidized his work as a composer. Investigate the meaning of a “patron of the arts” and the economic implica-tions of arts patrons. Research other famous arts patron/artist relationships from history. What benefits and challenges are faced by the artist in a patron/artist relationship? What negative and positive consequences can occur from investing in an artist? (MS, HS)

2. Several versions of The Nutcracker have been performed since its original inception. At what point do artistic liberties create a distinct piece? Who should retain rights to “spin-offs”? Do you think legal actions can be taken against people who violate copyright laws? Explore intellectual property rights in other nations. How does their legal system differ from the United States? (HS)

3. In PBT’s version of The Nutcracker, the Heinz family and the Kauffmann family attend the Stahlbaum’s Christmas party. Research these two families and share their economic contributions during the early 20

th century. (ES, MS, HS)

Geography (PDE Academic Standards 7.1-7.4) 1. PBT’s production of The Nutcracker is set right here in Pittsburgh in a neighborhood called Shadyside. Research the settlement patterns of the neighborhoods in the city of Pittsburgh. What groups of people settled into the various neighborhoods? What was their culture and average socioeconomic status? How did these cultures and economics affect the architecture and business of each neighborhood? (ES, MS, HS) 2. In the “Snowy Forest” scene in The Nutcracker, the backdrop is painted from a lookout on Mt. Washington. Look at maps and pictures of Western Pennsylvania. Describe the topography of Western PA. Create your own topographical map of your home or your school. Research famous “look outs” in Western Pennsylvania. (ES, MS)

3. Map a journey from Pittsburgh to the various countries represented in The Nutcracker during 1892 when the ballet premiered and today: Spain, China, Russia, and the countries on the Arabian Peninsula (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Yemen, Oman, and Qatar). Explore all the different ways you could travel to each of these countries. (MS, HS)

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History (PDE Academic Standards 8.1-8.4) 1. A giant carousel appears in Act II of PBT’s production of The Nutcracker to represent the histo-ry of carousels in the Pittsburgh region. How are carousels built? What images can be found in carousels? Find out when the first carousel appeared in Western Pennsylvania, where other carousels were built, and how many are still in existence today. (ES, MS, HS)

2. In Act II of The Nutcracker, Marie and the Prince arrive at the Land of Enchantment, where they are entertained by dancers from different countries. The dances, or divertissements, reflect the ethnic and national cultures through the costumes, body movements, and dance steps. Research the traditional dress of one of these countries on the internet or in library books. (ES, MS, HS)

3. The original Nutcracker was set in 19th century Russia, and Terrence Orr, the choreographer of PBT’s version, set the story in late 19th century Pittsburgh. How would the ballet change if it were set in another time period or place? Some suggestions to explore would be an early civilization from ancient history, medieval Europe, or the pioneer days of the United States. How would the costumes and sets differ? Using your knowledge of that time period, find what celebrations and dances would likely have been included. (ES, MS, HS) 4. This production of The Nutcracker is set in Pittsburgh. (See page 13 for more details.) What other Pittsburgh connections do you think should have been included in the production? How would you incorporate them into the ballet? (ES, MS, HS) 5. The Nutcracker has become a holiday favorite since it first premiered in 1892. Research the history of The Nutcracker in production and discuss why and how it became so popular. (MS, HS)

6. While the Arabian dance seems exotic and foreign compared to the rest, Middle Eastern cul-ture has had tremendous influence on western civilization. So it’s not quite as foreign as it would seem! Even in ballet, a classic move—the arabesque—means “in Arabic fashion.”

7. In Act I, the partygoers are entertained by dancing dolls. Two of these are Harlequin and Col-umbine. Where do these characters come from? (MS, HS)

8. In The Nutcracker, the nutcracker toy is shaped to look like a soldier. What other kinds of nut-crackers are there? Explore the history of nutcrackers. Have a wider variety been produced since the ballet’s growth in popularity? (ES, MS)

9. The Rat King in The Nutcracker is the antagonist. Why do you think the enemy is portrayed as a rat rather than another animal? What does a rat make you think of? Find out the symbolic meaning of a rat, then explore mythology and folk tales. Are rats used as antagonists in other stories? If not rats, then what other animals are vilified? Are those perceptions the same today? (ES, MS)

10. The Stahlbaums have a number of famous Pittsburgh-related guests at their Christmas par-ty. If that party were given again this year, what local guests would likely be invited? (ES, MS, HS)

11. Compare and contrast pictures of early 20th century Pittsburgh to modern-day. How has it

changed? How has it stayed the same? Does the scenery in The Nutcracker reflect the images of early 20

th century Pittsburgh? (ES)

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Arts and Humanities (PDE Academic Standards 9.1-9.4) 1. Create a poster for The Nutcracker. How do you catch people's attention so they will read the poster? What should be included in the poster to give all-important information? What can you say to excite people about the ballet? (MS, HS)

2. Read the synopsis of The Nutcracker. Divide the class into three groups and assign each group one of the following scenes to plan and paint: Christmas Eve at the home of Dr. and Frau Stahlbaum at the arrival of Godfather Drosselmeyer; the battle of the mice and the toy soldiers; the Land of Enchantment. After the three murals are completed hang them in story order and have each group describe and/or act out the action of the scene. (ES, MS, HS) 3. Make your own costume from “found” materials (such as cardboard tubes, newspaper, recycled bottles, etc.) for one of the following characters: Marie, the Nutcracker, the Rat King, Drosselmeyer, and the Sugarplum Fairy. Write a short paragraph describing the various ele-ments of your costume, the materials you used, and why you used those materials. (ES, MS, HS) 4. The music for “The Battle of the Mice” and “The Waltz of the Snowflakes” displays different qualities. Listen to each piece on the flash drive. Create an acrostic poem that describes the mu-sic and action of the scene. Share poems with the class. (ES, MS)

5. Tchaikovsky was one of the first composers to use a new (in 1892, that is!) instrument called the celesta (che-LE-sta). In The Nutcracker, it provides the distinctively delicate tinkling notes in “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy.” Taken from the French word for “heavenly,” the celesta gives a magical, dreamy or other-worldly feeling to the music. On the flash drive provided with this hand-book, listen to the “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy.” Describe what the celesta sounds like, what it makes them think of, and how it makes them feel. Research what the instrument looks like and is made of. How is sound created by the celesta? What other pieces of music use the celesta? Lis-ten to selections and compare and contrast with the “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy.” (ES, MS, HS) 6. In Act II of The Nutcracker, Marie and the Prince arrive at the Land of Enchantment, where they are entertained by dancers from different countries. The dances, or divertissements, reflect the ethnic and national cultures through the costumes, body movements, and dance steps. In small groups, choose one of these countries. Research the traditional dress of that country. Based on the research, create a dance costume inspired by the traditional dress of that country (remember: the dancers have to be able to move!). Include hats, jewelry and make up, if it is appropriate to the dress of country they chose. Have them label their completed drawing with the country of origin. (MS, HS)

7. Folk dancing provides the foundation for the various divertissements in Act II and is also re-flected in Act I during the party’s “Scottish” dance. Today, folk dancing is thriving right here in Pittsburgh! Research various folk dancing groups in existence in the Pittsburgh area. What type of dancing do they teach? If possible, learn a few steps from the folk dance you are researching and teach to your classmates. (ES, MS, HS) 8. The Nutcracker contains two very famous pas de deux: one with the Snow Queen and Snow King and one with the Sugarplum Fairy and her Cavalier. Research the form of the pas de deux and compare and contrast with other combinations of two in other art forms, such as musical duets, dialogue in drama, and couplets in poetry. (MS, HS)

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9. Review the story sequence of The Nutcracker by creating “frozen pictures” or tableaux in small groups. Each group decides upon 5 key moments of the story and creates a tableaux for each moment. Share tableaux and record what moments each group has chosen. Discuss story structure (exposition, conflict, rising action, climax, and resolution) and how the tableaux depict various parts of the story structure. Also discuss the aesthetic experience of tableaux and how the production utilized moments of tableaux. (ES, MS, HS)

10. Create “tickets” for The Nutcracker. Discuss what is listed on the ticket (title of production, time, date, etc.) and how much the tickets cost. Role-play selling tickets over the phone and in-person, collecting tickets at the door, and finding your seats in the theatre. (ES, MS, HS)

11. Explore different rhythms Tchaikovsky uses in The Nutcracker, such as the waltz and the march. Identify the sections where these and other rhythms are used and then try playing the rhythms on instruments or by clapping your hands. Describe qualities of each rhythm. (ES, MS)

12. In each of the various “country” dances in Act II, Tchaikovsky tried to use rhythms and instru-ments that reflected that country. Research traditional instruments and rhythms of these countries: Spain, China, Russia, and Arabia. Which instruments and rhythms do you hear reflected in the music? Research contemporary music being created in these countries and describe instruments and rhythms being used. (ES, MS, HS)

13. Find and experiment playing with some of the “toy instruments,” such as toy trumpet, a triangle, a snare drum, cuckoo and nightingale whistles, and a rattle, that Tchaikovsky used for musical ef-fects in The Nutcracker. What different sound qualities does each instrument have? (ES, MS, HS)

14. Mr. Orr, while creating a classical ballet, also makes the production relevant through incorporat-

ing contemporary dance moves. )Watch the Grandfather’s Dance in Act 1). What dance moves from

the 1980s, 1990s, and the 21st Century do you see employed by the dancers? What effects does this

have on your experience? How effective do you think the mixing of dance genres is in telling the sto-

ry and your overall experience? (MS, HS)

15. Russia has had tremendous influence on the art of ballet, particularly in the last 150 years. Not

only was one of the premier composers for ballet from Russia (Tchaikovsky), but the St. Petersburg

Imperial Theatre and Ballet Russes have made significant contributions to the art of ballet. Explore

Russia’s impact on ballet through companies, choreographers, composers, and individual dancers.

Also, investigate how Russian ballet differs in technique and style from French ballet and American

ballet. (MS, HS)

16. Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s production of The Nutcracker is Pittsburgh themed. How can you

make people who are not from Pittsburgh realize that Pittsburgh is the setting of this production

through scenery and costumes? (ES, MS, HS)

17. Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s The Nutcracker takes place in Pittsburgh. If you were to choose a dif-

ferent setting, where would it be? Would the weather be the same? What time of day or night?

Would this change the story? Why or why not? Create a set desgn for your version of The Nutcrack-

er. (ES, MS, HS)

18.The Nutcracker ballet was adapted from a story written by E.T.A. Hoffmann. Think about popular

stories today such as the Harry Potter series or The Hunger Games series. How would you adapt

one of these stories into a ballet? What elements would be needed to bring these characters to life?

Describe the music, special effects, costumes, and scenery you would use. How would you tell

these stories without words? (ES, MS, HS)

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Health, Safety, and Physical Education (PDE Academic Standards 10.1-10.5)

1. In 1892 when The Nutcracker premiered, real candles would have been used to illuminate the Christmas tree. What safety hazards does this pose? What precautions could you take if you were to use real candles? Create a fire escape plan in the event that the candles start a fire. (ES, MS)

2. Create a 7-day diet for a professional dancer who is dancing in The Nutcracker. In a week, a professional dancer would average 5 performances of The Nutcracker and an additional 7.5 hours of warm-up class on top of that. Take into account their level of physical activity and their nutritional needs. (MS, HS)

3. Each set of dancers in Act II performs a dance from their country. How are the dances and music

inspired by the different countries? Try learning a style of dance from another country. What are

some dance styles born in the United States? How are they different from the new style you

learned? What are some similarities? (ES, MS, HS)

Family and Consumer Sciences (PDE Academic Standards 11.1-11.4)

1. Terrence Orr returned to E.T.A. Hoffmann’s original story by making Marie older in PBT’s

production of The Nutcracker. He draws attention to her becoming an adult, represented by the

gifts of a scarf and pointe shoes in Act I. What other “coming of age” rituals can you think of? Re-

search coming of age rituals in other cultures t00. (MS, HS)

2. Plan a dinner party like the one seen in The Nutcracker. Plan a budget, a menu, and create a

seating chart for your guests. Consider a theme for the party and investigate where you would buy

supplies and a timeline for cooking the food. (ES, MS, HS)

3. The Nutcracker opens on Christmas Eve at a celebration at the Stahlbaum residence. Discuss

holiday celebrations of the students. What are these celebrations called? What family and friends

are involved and what are their roles during the celebrations? What are the major differences

between the various celebrations? (ES, MS, HS)

4. Investigate what life was like in the early 1900s in Shadyside. What was life like for other less wealthy neighborhoods in Pittsburgh? Select a neighborhood and compare and contrast how children lived in this setting. Did they have to work to provide for their family? What recreation was available? How small was their living space? What was the average income? (MS, HS)

5. The children at the Stahlbaum’s Christmas party play with a variety of toys and receive gifts. If that party were held today, what games would be popular with the kids? What would be common gifts they’d receive? (ES, MS, HS)

6. Usually in The Nutcracker, the role of Marie is danced by a younger child. What do you think are some of the reasons why Marie is portrayed as a young woman in this production? How does this change the story? Research the role of young women in the time period presented in this produc-tion. Compare and contrast the roles and societal expectations of young women and those of the same age group of today. (HS)

44

Career Education and Work (PDE Academic Standards 13.1-13.4)

1. Tchaikovsky worked as a “clerk first-class” during his early twenties. Research what this job entailed, skills needed, and how one became a “clerk.” Later, Tchaikovsky would become a full-time composer. Research the career path he took and how one might become a composer today. (MS, HS)

2. Many famous families--such as the Heinz family and Kaufmann family--are represented in PBT’s production of The Nutcracker. Investigate famous families of Pittsburgh. How did these entrepreneurs start their businesses and make their money? (MS, HS)

3. Read through two “Getting to Know You” profiles on dancers in our Company. What per-sonal attributes and attitudes can you infer from the profiles that have contributed to their suc-cess? What attitudes and values do you think does dance and ballet teach that can be trans-ferred to every day life? (MS, HS)

4. Backstage assistance plays a huge role in any ballet production. What are some jobs for people working backstage during the show? What do these jobs entail?

5. At first, Tchaikovsky supported himself by teaching at the Moscow Conservatory, and then a wealthy widow gave him enough financial support that he was able to stop teaching and focus solely on his creative endeavors. If Tchaikovsky were attempting to make a living as a compos-er today, how might he do this? What would his funding source be? How is funding for artists different today from the late 1800s? (HS)

45

Business, Computer, and Information Technology (PDE Academic Standards 15:1-15:9)

1. Imagine how in the future technology might be used to enhance performance experience. Describe watching a ballet at the theatre 100 years in the future. Do you believe technology could ever replace the experience of live performance? What would be gained, and what would be lost? (MS, HS)

2. If you were to create a digital recording of the performance of the The Nutcracker how would it differ from seeing it live? What technologies could you use to enhance viewing it digitally rather than in person? How could you replicate an experience aesthetic of textures, sound, lighting, and movement? (MS, HS)

3. Create an animated version of the Land of Enchantment. Use a variety of art materials to create

puppet characters. Create backgrounds that embody the enchanted land. Create a storyboard of

actions and dialogue with fellow classmates. Use the backgrounds and puppets to create an

animation with i pads using the i-animate app. Add music!. (MS, HS)

4. Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s version of The Nutcracker takes place at the Stahlbaum home in the

early 20th century. Research some prominent families in the Pittsburgh area during this period. What

businesses or industries were successful in Pittsburgh at this time? Are any of these same business-

es still in operation today? How have they changed? (MS, HS)

5. If the Stahlbaum’s party occurred in 2016, how would consumer electronics change the in-

teraction of the children with each other and Drosselmeyer? Would Drosselmeyer do something oth-

er than magic tricks? Write a 21st century version of the party and compare the early 20

th century to

today’s times. (ES, MS)

6. Tchaikovsky was the first Russian composer to incorporate the celesta into his music. However,

he kept this a secret from his contemporaries. Why do you think Tchaikovsky would have wanted

this to remain a secret? What are some advantages of differentiating yourself from competitors in

your field? How is this strategy used in other businesses? (MS, HS)

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Section Page Lexile Measure

Nutcracker Ballet 5 1120

Tchaikovsky bio 9 1070

Synopsis 12 1040

Pittsburgh Connection 13 1040

Choreography 15 1140

Signature steps 17 1050

The Costumes 18 1000

Scenic Design 20 1180

Elementary synopsis 55 810

Lexile Reading Measures

47

It is Christmas Eve in the early 20th century at a home in Shadyside. Godfather Drosselmeyer and

his Nephew unload presents from their cart. The Nephew’s eye patch frightens many of the guests

as they arrive. Drosselmeyer comforts his Nephew by revealing the magical Nutcracker.

In her bedroom Marie reads a Christmas storybook. Her parents present her with two special gifts—

a scarf and a pair of ballet shoes. These gifts show how Marie is growing up from a girl to a young

woman. Marie admires herself in the mirror and sees a vision of a beautiful fairy ballerina.

Back outside on the street, Drosselmeyer holds the Nutcracker. He remembers how his Nephew

was cursed by the seven-headed Rat King. He wonders if the curse will finally be broken tonight.

The party is under way. The guests exchange gifts, trim the tree, and dance. Drosselmeyer per-

forms magic tricks for the children, but he has even bigger plans in store for Marie. He introduces

her to his Nephew. As Drosselmeyer had hoped, Marie sees past the Nephew’s eye patch to the

goodness inside him. Next Drosselmeyer gives her the Nutcracker. She immediately adores it. The

party ends with one last magic trick. The guests say their goodbyes, and the family goes to bed.

Drosselmeyer reappears. He gets ready for the magical night to come. As midnight approaches,

Marie tip toes downstairs to find her Nutcracker. But Marie is not alone. Mice and human-sized rats

threaten her from every side. She is so frightened that she faints. When she wakes up, she finds

herself and the whole house under a spell. Everything is growing, even her Nutcracker, who

becomes life-sized. The mice and rats return to terrify Marie, but Nutcracker rallies the toy soldiers

and storybook characters to rescue Marie.

As the battle reaches its peak, Marie helps the Nutcracker defeat the Rat King by throwing her shoe

at him. Because of her concern for the Nutcracker, the spell is broken. He is transformed into a

handsome Prince. He invites Marie on a journey through the glittering snowy forest to the Land of

Enchantment. Guided by the Snow King and Queen, they set off on a magical sleigh ride.

Marie and the Prince arrive in the Land of Enchantment. The Sugarplum Fairy (the vision Marie saw

in her mirror) and her Cavalier greet the travelers. The Prince retells the tale of the battle and how

Marie saved his life. The Sugarplum Fairy presents Marie with a beautiful tiara as a thank-you gift.

Marie expresses her gratitude in a dance with the Flowers.

The grand festival begins, with dancers from many lands entertaining Marie and the Prince. Her visit

to the Land of Enchantment ends with a grand duet danced by the Sugarplum Fairy and her

Cavalier.

Suddenly, Christmas Day dawns on the street outside the Stahlbaum home. Drosselmeyer and his

Nephew make their way to the cart. They stop to reflect on the night's magnificent events. Marie's

compassion has broken the Rat King's curse and the Nephew's handsome face is restored.

Marie awakens in her bedroom. Was it all a dream? She finds her beautiful scarf, a souvenir of her

visit to the Land of Enchantment. Can it be? She rushes to the mirror. Staring back at her, ever

faithful, is her Nutcracker Prince.

The Nutcracker Elementary Synopsis

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E G T H N T X X P S R W N Q K

C C R C E E V P N R E P U D P

G D N L H T P O F N Y R T S Y

V N L A U A W H E O E E C C H

W A I T D Q I C E B M I R A H

B J U K U N J K H W L D A R S

A R W E T X A A O H E L C F K

H B E Z F A J I P V S O K A C

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