Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Born: May 7, 1840 Died: November 6, 1893
Famous Works
Check out these links below to learn more about
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The Encyclopedia Britannica
Biography from one of the worlds most trusted encyclopedias. |
The Presidents Own
United States Marine Band Official website of the United States Marines. |
Country of Origin
Russia
Original Manuscript
YouTube
Check out the Tchaicovsky playlist on our class YouTube page!!
Story of "The Nutcracker"
Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy |
A little girl's dream.In the story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" a little girl, Clara, is given a Nutcracker soldier as a Christmas gift from her Godfather Mr. Drosselmyer who is also a toy-maker! Clara's younger brother, Fritz, was jealous and broke the soldier. Her Godfather fixed the Nutcracker and gave it back to Clara. That night she dreamed that she had shrunk down to the size of a mouse!
Suddenly she is surrounded by an army of mice lead by the mouse king! The Nutcracker comes to life and leads Fritz's toy soldiers to fight the mouse king! After the King corners the Nutcracker, Clara throws her slipper at him allowing her Nutcracker to overpower the king and defeat him and his army! The Nutcracker transforms into a human prince and they fly away on a magical sleigh through the forest on a beautiful winter night. They see many wonderful things such as snowflakes that become ballerinas, Gingerbread men, and all sorts of Fairies and any other amazing creatures! Watch the full Ballet below! |
What is Ballet?Ballet is a style of dance that specializes in telling a story through movement. Students of Ballet often study for YEARS taking classes to learn how to do some of the amazing and beautiful ways that ballet can tell a story. Both boys and girls participate in ballet. It teaches balance, grace, confidence, and strength (it takes a LOT of muscle to dance ballet).
Sometimes ballet is performed as part of an exhibition ( a show that has different kinds of music from different composers) and sometimes they are performed like a play or a musical. Large ballets usually do not have any words except for the occasional narration and some silent acting from non-dancers on stage. In the case of Tchaikovsky, The scenes are very large but simple and the story relies heavily on costuming, and extras. |
Watch the Nutcracker!
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Click the video to the left to see the 1993 Warner Brothers production of "The Nutcracker" with the New York Ballet Company on YouTube.
You can also watch another famous Tchaikovsky ballet, "Swan Lake" on our YouTube playlist! |