"Nußknacker und Mausekönig"

"Nußknacker und Mausekönig"  (Nutcracker and Mouse King) was a story written years and years ago by E.T.A. Hoffman.  (Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann (January 24, 1776 – June 25, 1822).  In synopsis, it's a story about a young German girl who dreams of a Nutcracker Prince and a fierce battle against a Mouse King with seven heads.  Yickk! 

However, this was but a story written...

Marius Petipa (who is this guy??  He is purported to be the most influential  balletmaster and choreographer that has ever lived.) had the idea to choreograph the "Nußknacker und Mausekönig" story into a ballet.  And his idea was based on a revision of "Nußknacker und Mausekönig", by Alexander Dumas - you know: the author of The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, etc.  And we all know that Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky composed the Nutcracker music in 1891-92.

So, you see, a talented writer may create something which is beholden by others, and taken into another medium, another realm, another "art",  and re-created into a wonderful work.  From E.T.A. Hoffman, to Alexander Dumas, to Marius Pepita, Tchaikovsky, and beyond, we have received a wonderful holiday tradition known as the Nutcracker Ballet!  The means beyond...the Bolshoi Ballet, Baryshnikov, all the tiny kids in local ballet theaters who play the parts of the Ding-Dong Clock and Mother Goose and her children...

The Nutcracker!  What a festive time!  My family has enjoyed many a city's Nutcracker presentation:  Lansing, Cleveland, Tulsa, Kansas City...  Wherever and whenever we find ourselves in a timely place we enjoy this holiday tradition!  No two ballets are the same, and that is so much a part of the enjoyment!  I suppose it is much like reading and re-reading a book: you can get different things out of it each time you view it.  

And so, I leave you with this beautiful image:

And I hope we can all enjoy a Nutcracker Ballet performance this holiday season!