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Nutcracker Costumes

The Nutcracker ballet was first presented in 1892 with music by Tchaikovsky and choreography established by Balanchine for the New York City Ballet in 1954. The costumes are designed to represent the characters in the story, with Victorian style for the human characters, toy designs for soldiers and dolls, and whimsical interpretations for the Land of Sweets section. Key costumes include the elaborate Mother Ginger skirt and the classic designs for Sugar Plum Fairy and her Prince. Details like crystals, bells, and added decorations on Christmas Eve help enhance the fairy tale atmosphere.

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Sophie Edwards-Smith
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140 views1 page

Nutcracker Costumes

The Nutcracker ballet was first presented in 1892 with music by Tchaikovsky and choreography established by Balanchine for the New York City Ballet in 1954. The costumes are designed to represent the characters in the story, with Victorian style for the human characters, toy designs for soldiers and dolls, and whimsical interpretations for the Land of Sweets section. Key costumes include the elaborate Mother Ginger skirt and the classic designs for Sugar Plum Fairy and her Prince. Details like crystals, bells, and added decorations on Christmas Eve help enhance the fairy tale atmosphere.

Uploaded by

Sophie Edwards-Smith
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Nutcracker 

ballet, based on the 1816 tale by E.T.A. Hoffman (or, more correctly, the softer
version later written by Alexander Dumas), was first presented in St. Petersburg by the Russian
Imperial Ballet in 1892, with music by Tchaikovsky. George Balanchine danced the role of the Prince
in 1919. After he founded the New York City Ballet, he decided to present the ballet himself with new
choreography. The first performance was in 1954 and it has been a staple of the NYCB ever since.

The Balanchine version uses children (students from the adjoining dance school) for much of the
roles, although many other companies prefer to use teens or adults. The Nutcracker ballet costumes
are therefore child-appropriate, whether they are playing the children of the party scene or the various
toys of the dream and fight scene, or the fanciful characters in the Land of Sweets in the second act.

True to the original fairy tale, the costumes for the human characters are Victorian. Of course, they
are designed to look heavier than they are, so that they can be danced in with ease. The costumes for
the toy soldiers have a classic Victorian style, as do the dolls and the Nutcracker himself. Whereas
the Bunny, soldiers and other toys danced by children (except the Nutcracker during the fight) wear
costumes that keep their faces free, the mice, danced by adults, wear mouse heads. The mouse
bodies are large and round to the hips, leaving the legs free for running and dancing. The effect of the
heads make the mice menacing - even downright frightening for some of the tiniest members of the
audience.

The Nutcracker's costume is based on the classic Russian nutcrackers, although with a less
pronounced beard. The head is very carefully designed so that the boy wearing it has the full visibility
necessary for the demanding fight scene. It is also designed so that it can be easily removed onstage
for the transformation.

In the Land of Sweets


Act Two of The Nutcracker takes place in the fanciful Land of Sweets, where all the dancers represent
a classic Christmas treat. The costumes can vary by company, but in the Balanchine version, The
Nutcracker ballet costumes for this act have a look that is literal and yet whimsical. One of the most
beloved characters in this sequence, having the most outlandish costume, is Mother Ginger. Mother
Ginger is played by a man wearing stilts and has a gigantic, very heavy skirt (guided by wires) from
under which her "children" appear and perform a bon-bon dance. The costume can vary widely, but
usually has a vaguely Victorian look.

While some costumes may have variations, this is not so for Sugar Plum Fairy and her Prince. They
wear classic ballet costumes, white with simple embellishments and very rich - designed to please the
eye all the way to the balcony. For the NYCB version, Sugar Plum's tutu is comprised of seven layers
of tulle! Other charming stylings include the crystals on the Dew Drop Fairy's costume and the jingle
bells on the Candy Canes.

For performances taking place on Christmas Eve, dancers are allowed, and sometimes even
encouraged, to add some extra flair to their costumes. The Candy Canes will often attach real candy
canes to their costumes, and an extra air of festivity is generally seen and felt.

Many companies perform The Nutcracker and will design their own costumes, but the fairy-tale quality
is always the first and foremost design element.

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