Chasing the American Dream: Making _The_Nutcracker_ a Christmas Tradition in the United States
Disciplines
Arts and Humanities | Dance | Fine Arts | Music | Performance Studies | Sociology | Theatre and Performance Studies
Abstract (300 words maximum)
Chasing the American Dream: Making The Nutcracker a Christmas Tradition in the United States
Alexandra Walsh
Department of Dance, Kennesaw State University
For many in the United States, The Nutcracker ballet is synonymous with the Christmas season, as it has secured prominence among annual Christmas traditions. Likewise, for many American ballet companies, The Nutcracker is both a fan-favorite and a financial success. Given the ballet’s less than complimentary reception following its 1892 Russian premiere, it is remarkable that America has embraced it eagerly. This leads to the question, what transformed The Nutcracker from a mediocre ballet into a beloved holiday classic? Did American interest in The Nutcracker arise out of artistic appreciation, or were other sociological factors involved? Identification of the catalyst behind The Nutcracker’s rise to fame in the United States requires a literature review investigating the historical, political, cultural, and economic context of The Nutcracker’s American debut. Existing dance scholarship takes an interdisciplinary approach to exploring the contextual history of The Nutcracker. Through cross-analysis of published scholarship, this presentation investigates the intricacy involved in making a ballet a tradition. Interestingly, one of the earliest introductions American audiences had to The Nutcracker was not as a ballet but as part of the Disney film, Fantasia. Some scholars suggest that Disney’s whimsical cartoon choreography provided inspiration for the American Nutcrackers that would develop. Further analysis of the role of the arts and the nature of international relations during World War II suggests that American “high-art,” including the ballet and classical music of the upper class, assumed new, perhaps patriotic, meaning within the home-front war effort. Additionally, as war influenced the American perspective, political and military alliances likely directed the course of popular culture. When considered in conjunction with history and politics, it seems that The Nutcracker ballet’s American success is rooted more deeply in the realities of war, technology, and global relations than in the fantasies of sugar plums and dew drops.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
COTA - Dance
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Dr. Caroline Clark
Chasing the American Dream: Making _The_Nutcracker_ a Christmas Tradition in the United States
Chasing the American Dream: Making The Nutcracker a Christmas Tradition in the United States
Alexandra Walsh
Department of Dance, Kennesaw State University
For many in the United States, The Nutcracker ballet is synonymous with the Christmas season, as it has secured prominence among annual Christmas traditions. Likewise, for many American ballet companies, The Nutcracker is both a fan-favorite and a financial success. Given the ballet’s less than complimentary reception following its 1892 Russian premiere, it is remarkable that America has embraced it eagerly. This leads to the question, what transformed The Nutcracker from a mediocre ballet into a beloved holiday classic? Did American interest in The Nutcracker arise out of artistic appreciation, or were other sociological factors involved? Identification of the catalyst behind The Nutcracker’s rise to fame in the United States requires a literature review investigating the historical, political, cultural, and economic context of The Nutcracker’s American debut. Existing dance scholarship takes an interdisciplinary approach to exploring the contextual history of The Nutcracker. Through cross-analysis of published scholarship, this presentation investigates the intricacy involved in making a ballet a tradition. Interestingly, one of the earliest introductions American audiences had to The Nutcracker was not as a ballet but as part of the Disney film, Fantasia. Some scholars suggest that Disney’s whimsical cartoon choreography provided inspiration for the American Nutcrackers that would develop. Further analysis of the role of the arts and the nature of international relations during World War II suggests that American “high-art,” including the ballet and classical music of the upper class, assumed new, perhaps patriotic, meaning within the home-front war effort. Additionally, as war influenced the American perspective, political and military alliances likely directed the course of popular culture. When considered in conjunction with history and politics, it seems that The Nutcracker ballet’s American success is rooted more deeply in the realities of war, technology, and global relations than in the fantasies of sugar plums and dew drops.