National Ballet's 'The Nutcracker' Opens December 14... Universal on December 19

Representing Korea's premier ballet companies, the National Ballet of Korea and Universal Ballet will once again present "The Nutcracker" on their year-end stages this year. The National Ballet will perform at the Opera Theater of the Seoul Arts Center from December 14 to 25, while Universal Ballet will hold performances at the Sejong Center Grand Theater from December 19 to 30.

"The Nutcracker" tells the story of a young girl who receives a nutcracker doll as a Christmas Eve gift and, in her dream that night, meets the cursed Nutcracker Prince and travels through the Land of Snow. The girl's dream adventure is fantastically portrayed through splendid stage settings and the dancers' beautiful costumes and choreography.

[Photo by National Ballet Company]

The original story of "The Nutcracker" is a fairy tale titled "Der Nussknacker und Mausekonig" written in 1816 by German author Ernst Hoffmann (1776?1822). French author Alexandre Dumas (1802?1870) adapted Hoffmann's tale in 1844, publishing it as "Histoire d'un casse-noisette" ("The Story of a Nutcracker"). The ballet "The Nutcracker" was created based on Dumas's adaptation.

Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840?1893) composed the music, and Marius Petipa (1818?1910), the chief ballet master of Russia's Mariinsky Theatre, was responsible for the libretto and choreography. After Petipa's health declined, Lev Ivanov (1834?1901), Petipa's assistant and the Mariinsky Theatre's second ballet master, contributed to the choreography, leading to the ballet's premiere in 1892. Although the initial performance received mixed reviews, numerous choreographers have since revised the choreography, and today it is a representative ballet performed worldwide every year during the holiday season.

[Photo provided by Universal Ballet, (c) Kyoungjin Kim]

Since 2000, the National Ballet of Korea has been presenting the version choreographed by the legendary Yuri Grigorovich, who served as artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet for over 30 years. Grigorovich's "The Nutcracker" premiered at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1966, and since its Korean premiere by the National Ballet in 2000, it has sold out every year.

Universal Ballet presents a version based on the work of Vasily Vainonen, who was mainly active with the Mariinsky Ballet. The performances have been slightly adapted by Roy Tobias, who served as Universal Ballet's third artistic director, and the current sixth artistic director, Byung-Hun Yoo. Vainonen was active at the Mariinsky Ballet from 1930 to 1938 and staged his adaptation of "The Nutcracker" in 1934.

The protagonist's name is "Marie" in the National Ballet's production and "Clara" in Universal Ballet's. In Hoffmann's original fairy tale, the girl's name is Marie, and Clara is the name of the doll she owns. A distinctive feature of the National Ballet's production is that a young dancer directly performs the role of the Nutcracker doll.

"The Nutcracker" also serves as a debut stage for many rising dancers in leading roles. In the National Ballet, An Su-yeon and Kim Byeol will debut as Marie, and Yang Jun-young will debut as the Prince. At Universal Ballet, Jeon Yeo-jin, who took her first lead role in last year's charity performance of "The Nutcracker," will debut as a lead in the regular season performances.