Preview

The Nutcracker

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
389 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Nutcracker
Essay One
Waltz of the Flowers” from The Nutcracker

“Waltz of the Flowers” from The Nutcracker
I watched Waltz of the Flowers from The Nutcracker online for my first choice in my performance paper. This magnificent piece was composed by Peter Llyich Tchaikovsky during the Romantic period in 1892. This performance is performed by about 12 Ballerinas with the music being played in the background.
“The Waltz of the Flowers” is actually ACT II from The Nutcracker, which is a very well known and amazing song. Tchaikovsky wrote this piece about a young girl named Clara that cannot wait for Christmas morning to arrive. She spends the whole night dreaming of intense dreams with extroidinary characters. This is why the ballet is always performed during the Christmas season. This piece is called a Waltz because the song is done in ¾ meter. The introduction starts with the amazing sound of the beautiful harps being played. This song has four different themes that repeat themselves. The first theme at the beginning, after the introduction, starts with a melody heard in French horns and clarinets and is repeated, but differently the 2nd time. The second them consists of violins. This theme adds drama and tension to the performance. The flutes start in on the third theme and repeated again with a more illuminated timbre. The fourth theme is heard only once and that is where the cellos come in for the melody. This melody is eloquent and passionate. There is so much detail in every part of this piece that you really have to pay attention to the music, which is what Tchaikovsky’s plan was when he wrote it.
I really enjoyed watching this performance because the ballerinas moved so beautifully. They moved their hand to the music perfectly, which is where the Waltz come into the name. My favorite section of this piece is the introduction when you hear the harps playing. The ballerinas move so eloquently with the harps and it just amazed me. I also found myself swaying to the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The intense dance between the two leads was so heartbreaking yet beautiful. The piece told the story of a man and a women who cared deeply, supporting each other yet now being good enough. The man and the women had dragging movements, carrying and dropping each other showing that they couldn’t survive. At the end, there was a spotlight on the women as she collapsed to the floor with the man standing over her and others gathering around. The male lead sprinkled rose petals over her body, making the story so powerful.…

    • 1004 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    First performed in Saint Petersburg, Russia, the classic Christmas ballet, The Nutcracker has been shown for over 100 years. The composer, Peter Tchaikovsky, and choreographer Marius Petipa teamed up to create a timeless production as an adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffman’s tale "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King." This pair had previously worked together on another classical ballet, Sleeping Beauty.…

    • 526 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Paper Fan is a piece of art that in its time has been in the presence of princesses, ninjas, and college students. Taking on several roles both in an imaginary and reality. Each experience aging the paper that stretched across bamboo frame. Opening it reveals a water color and ink print covering the face of the fan. Painted is a family of birds before a background of greenery. Fully expanded the width reached to fourteen inches and standing in length at nine inches. Width shrinks drastically down to one and quarter inch when closed. Unlike the length with is virtually untouched, remaining at nine inches. Surrounding the edges of the fan are tears in paper and chipped shafts. Falsifying the actual age of the fan. Attributed the constant use throughout its time. Overall, the fan gives a sense of calm and delicacy. The origin of provenance reaches across the Pacific Ocean, my father would travel to Japan returning with various Japanese art pieces. Bequeathing me the Paper Fan at the age of eight. Notably, the significance of this piece stems from the calm and still that surrounds the simplistic form. In that calm the…

    • 983 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Nutcracker is a wonderful story, and there are many versions of the story, including movies, plays, and ballets. The original story was published in 1816 by E.T.A Hoffman, and the original ballet was in 1892, but some people have change the story over the years, but they kept the plot very similar of the story.…

    • 56 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Balanchine's Prodigal Son

    • 734 Words
    • 3 Pages

    I was not familiar with this ballet at all although I have enjoyed Prokofiev’s music when watching Romeo and Juliet. It is not a long piece to watch and the dancing although slow in parts (when the Siren is doing her solo and the Pas de Deux) it is always interesting to watch. The principle male has to really be able to act and portray lots of different emotions – it’s not all about the dancing for this character. I thought for the time it was created quite a contemporary piece which fitted the music.…

    • 734 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    On November 28th, 2015 I attended Ben Stevenson’s version of The Nutcracker which was being performed by the Houston Ballet at the Wortham Theater Center. The dance featured two separate acts and multitude of dances as well as a live orchestra. The Nutcracker demonstrated the Stevenson’s ability to deliver a cohesive performance whilst maintaining the illusion of fantasy using music composed by Pyotr Tchaikovsky of the Romantic era, eloquent set design and usage of techniques such as lighting and special effects, as well as precise choreography and overall cohesiveness of the dance and the music.…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    These elements of the dance angered many audience members, while other audience members enjoyed it. Disagreement among the crowd led to a huge uproar and caused a riot. After this piece, Nijinsky and Stravinsky no longer collaborated. This event became one of the most historic moments in dance. “The premiere would pass into legend as one of the great moments of cultural history, but for each of the protagonists it was a personal turning point, too”…

    • 1109 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    People who listen to classical music can generally be classified into two groups, those who listen to Mozart-styled music, and those who listen to Bach-styled music. The main difference between the two, is being the rhythmic style; Mozart uses “soft” tones, and rhythm. His pieces flow smoothly and calm the listener. Bach on the other hand, uses heavier, driven notes. His work is often classified as being “cinematic” or “suspenseful”. The main point I like about Tchaikovsky is that he combines both styles, and successfully turns it into a single, beautiful piece of true artwork. One example of this is Tchaikovsky’s piece titled 1812 Festival Overture Op. 49. This piece starts very soft, and soothing with a string ensemble. Inwards, it switches between driving Brass/String movements, and back to lighter string ensembles. This continues throughout the piece until the Finale. This Finale is well know by many people, and may be the most recognizable in the world. Tchaikovsky even made it so that he could use live cannons (the heavy weapon of choice in that time period) in his finale rhythmically in time. If you ask me, that’s a pretty awesome feat to accomplish.…

    • 439 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Christina opens the door gently and steps inside the studio, “Sorry to interrupt Zhanna. Ladies, the cast lists are up.” A murmur spreads throughout the room. A smile beams across most faces, whereas some look terrified as they realize the Nutcracker season is here. Lainey’s stomach drops, she had been waiting anxiously for this moment to learn what part she had received for her final Nutcracker before graduating high-school. “Go ahead girls be back in five minutes to start pointe,” said Zhanna. In a split second, everyone had already rushed out the studio door and crowded around the bulletin board. Lainey waited for a few moments before making her way to the bulletin. She hoped to receive the role of Princess Clara. Princess Clara is the lead in the Nutcracker ballet, she is transformed from the young Clara…

    • 1403 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I attended a symphony orchestra at Alexander Kasser Theater in Montclair State University on Wednesday, December 8th, 2010 at 7:30 pm. The program was approximately an hour and a half long, with two parts and a short intermission. The Rite of Spring (Le Sacre du printemps- 1913) by Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) was performed. There was an assortment of musical energy in parts of the first section of the symphony with a quantity of sections constantly changing rhythms. I really enjoyed the piece, it was not too long to become fed up with and distracted. Listening to the piece made me feel adventurous in some points; not knowing what could happen next, almost like to a movie. The Rite of Spring is a piece that tells a story,…

    • 420 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    For this concert report, I viewed and listened to the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 as listed on the syllabus. The concerto is composed of three movements, Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso, Adantino semplice, and Allegro con fuoco. The entire piece was quite interesting, being the most unique sounding of the concerts I have listened to this semester. One characteristic that sets this concert apart is the piano, which was not featured prominently in any of the other concerts I attended. The style of emotional expression in this piece as one was also unique, often leading through a large range of emotions exceedingly quickly at some points.…

    • 538 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Last Waltz

    • 1414 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Last Waltz is a unique documentary because of its exceptional techniques incorporated into the film. One of them was the fact that it was decided with a storyboard. Instead of just recording down the key components needed for the film right on the spot, the director Martin Scorsese had spent time prior to the filming to carefully plot down his ideas/visions of how he wanted to record the scenes and how some of the shots he hoped to accomplish during the concert were to be positioned. Thus, parts of the documentary were scripted. The viewers themselves were able to see that occurring in the film. For example, the very first scene of the movie was set in a room that had a pool table where the musicians appeared to be having fun and the atmosphere displayed was very relaxing. In doing so, it conveys to the viewers a feeling of those times in people’s busy lives where they had concluded to sparing some joyful moments with the ones close to them. On a different level, a part of The Band’s life was exposed to the audience—their days having fun and it symbolizes for the what life is like in the music business career. The scene draws to an end as one of the members of The Band took a shot at the balls on the table. The action itself leads to the starting of the concert where the group was walking to their positions on…

    • 1414 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Unconditional Love

    • 696 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Cited: Roethke, Theodore. My Papa’s Waltz. Literature for Composition, 8th ed. Eds. Sylvan Barnet, William Burto, William E. Cain. New York: Pearson Longman, 2008. 807.…

    • 696 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    An Homage Of Pina Bausch

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages

    While watching the performances, one of the most influential aspects of the production was the convergence of music and movement. It contributed to the overall mood and played a tremendous role in shaping the audience’s conception of the overall piece. I particularly enjoyed the ensemble of dancers and music in The Rite of Spring. In this dance, the music reinforced the drab, overworked, and distraught individuals. Each group, composed of males and females, moved to its own beat until the groups would converge and move as one. This dance displayed Pina’s pure creativity and genius.…

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Sinderela

    • 1360 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Early classical ballets such as “Giselle and La Sylphide” were created during the Romantic Movement in the first half of the 19th century. This movement influenced art, music and ballet. It was concerned with the supernatural world of spirits and magic and often showed women as passive and fragile. The popularity of ballet soared in Russia, and, during the latter half of the 19th century, Russian choreographers and composers took it to new heights. Marius Petipa’s The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake, by Petipa and Lev Ivanov, represent classical ballet in its grandest form.…

    • 1360 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays