presents the 2008/09 season is presented by presents nutcracker story time
illustrations by scott mckowen. top: student of canada s national ballet school as marie with artists of the ballet. bottom left: students of canada s national ballet school as cats. bottom right: tanya howard as the snow queen with artists of the ballet.
act one, scene one It is Christmas Eve in Imperial Russia. Young Misha and his sister Marie are preparing for a grand party at their family s country estate. They join their friend, Peter the stable boy, who is sweeping out the barn in anticipation of guests. The company arrives and the party and dancing begin. The children s Uncle Nikolai arrives with gifts and entertains everyone with extraordinary magic tricks. As a present, he gives Marie a Nutcracker in the shape of a gallant soldier. Marie and Misha fight over the soldier until their father takes it away. What s the very best present that you ve ever received?
Can you make the sounds of all the different animals in the battle? act one, scene two The excited children are put to bed. As they fall asleep, they enter an enchanted dream world. The Christmas tree in their room grows to a towering height and the Nutcracker, looking just like Peter, comes to life along with all the other Christmas toys. A battle breaks out between the dogs and cats. The cats are victorious, but in turn are attacked by an army of mice. When the Tsar of the Mice challenges the Nutcracker to combat, Misha and Marie come to their friend s aid, helping to defeat the Tsar with their feather pillows.
act one, scene three Exhausted, the children fall back on their beds, only to be carried off on a new dream journey, this one to the icy, crystalline realm of the Snow Queen. There, along with the Nutcracker, Misha and Marie dance with the Snow Maidens. Afterwards, the Snow Queen presents them with a glorious ice-boat, attended by unicorns, which takes them off again. What do you like to do when it snows?
act two, scene one Misha, Marie and the Nutcracker arrive in the land of the Sugar Plum Fairy, who lives in a majestic and ornate Fabergé egg in a golden palace. They are greeted by Nikolai and Baba, who are now the Grand Duke and Empress Dowager. A splendid feast is ordered for the newcomers who, while it is being prepared, are treated to many wondrous spectacles, ending with Baba as a shepherdess with a flock of lambs and a sheep pursued by a fox.
Did you know that the lambs are played by students of Canada s National Ballet School? What animals do you like to pretend to be?
act two, scene two Finally the chefs and waiters arrive with the promised banquet. Misha and Marie, as special guests, are given seats of honour at the table, and then, they begin a food fight! In the midst of the chaos, the final traces of winter gradually disappear. The gates of the palace swing open and two signs of spring, a bee and a host of flowers, dance merrily in the warm, gentle breezes. What are your favourite foods? Draw some of them on the chefs platters.
act two, scene three Through all of this fantastical confusion, the Nutcracker and the Sugar Plum Fairy have fallen in love. As the world of the Sugar Plum Fairy begins to fade, the tired children find themselves back in their room, being tucked in by Baba. As they drift off to sleep once more, the Nutcracker and the Sugar Plum Fairy say goodbye. Their adventures have transformed Misha and Marie and with the aid of their dreams they have moved from childhood to adolescence, an important step on their life journeys. What do you dream about?
It takes a lot of people to put on each performance of The Nutcracker. There are 174 performers 50 dancers, 40 students, 60 musicians and 24 singers and 57 people behind the scenes in the stage crew. Over 200 students from Canada s National Ballet School perform each year in The Nutcracker. The children who perform the roles of Marie and Misha are 11 and 12 year olds, the lambs are 7 to 10 year olds, the unicorns are 12 and 13 year olds and the chefs and guards are 11 and 12 year olds. The battle scene also features students from several local high schools. There are 56 animals in every performance of The Nutcracker 1 rat, 1 horse, 2 bears, 6 baby mice, 17 cats and dogs, 8 cossack mice, 1 Tsar of the Mice, 1 ram, 1 rooster, 6 unicorns, 1 fox, 1 sheep, 9 lambs and 1 bee. There are 2 dancers inside the horse costume 1 for the front and 1 for the back. It takes a lot of coordination for them to move so well together. They do such a good job that the horse looks real! There are 183 costumes in The Nutcracker. After each performance, the Wardrobe Department gets the costumes ready for the next show. This includes doing many loads of laundry in the washing machines and dryers backstage at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Ballerinas can wear out 1 or 2 pairs of pointe shoes during a performance. In one year each dancer goes through about 70 pairs of shoes! top: students of canada s national ballet school as lambs. middle: piotr stanczyk as uncle nikolai with artists of the ballet as the horse. bottom: xiao nan yu as the snow queen with artists of the ballet as snow maidens.
top: sonia rodriguez as the sugar plum fairy. bottom left: keiichi hirano as the nutcracker with artists of the ballet. bottom right: student of canada s national ballet school as a chef. photography by sian richards and bruce zinger.
Chan Hon Goh and Guillaume Côté in Giselle by Bruce Zinger. WE BELIEVE MEMORIES MAKE GOOD INVESTMENTS. TD Waterhouse is delighted to be the presenting sponsor of The Nutcracker. It s just one more way we re helping communities in Canada. TD Waterhouse represents the products and services offered by TD Waterhouse Discount Brokerage, TD Waterhouse Financial Planning, and TD Waterhouse Private Investment Advice, which are divisions of TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. (Member CIPF), TD Waterhouse Private Investment Counsel Inc., TD Waterhouse Private Banking (whose services are offered by The Toronto-Dominion Bank) and TD Waterhouse Private Trust (whose services are offered by The Canada Trust Company). TD Waterhouse is a trade-mark of The Toronto-Dominion Bank, used under license.