Royal Ballet - The Nutcracker Act II

[lollylamb1]

Perhaps I am out of touch, but after watching today’s dress rehearsal, I was interested to see the change in choreography to Act II; namely in the Arabian dance, where there are only two dancers, I remember four (3 males and 1 female) and the Chinese dance, very different choreography without the parasols and arm movements, especially during the finale/coda - the choreography for the two male dancers seemed quite bizarre!

 

Does anyone know the reasons behind the change in choreography/change in no. of dancers in each dance and how long this has been in the repertoire? Does it have something to with addressing the racist stereotypes that other companies seem to be following or unrelated?

 

Thank you!

Edited November 23, 2021 by lollylamb1
spacing

[Sim]

50 minutes ago, lollylamb1 said:

Perhaps I am out of touch, but after watching today’s dress rehearsal, I was interested to see the change in choreography to Act II; namely in the Arabian dance, where there are only two dancers, I remember four (3 males and 1 female) and the Chinese dance, very different choreography without the parasols and arm movements, especially during the finale/coda - the choreography for the two male dancers seemed quite bizarre!

 

Does anyone know the reasons behind the change in choreography/change in no. of dancers in each dance and how long this has been in the repertoire? Does it have something to with addressing the racist stereotypes that other companies seem to be following or unrelated?

 

Thank you!

Yes.  I found the Arabian dance much less interesting than it was with the two other men involved.  The Arabian change is new;  Chinese has been like this for a few years.  
 

What I also want to know is why the Mouse King no longer comes up from beneath the stage?  I can’t remember if it was like that last year.  If it stays like this, Hans Peter’s explanatory mime should be tweaked!  But hey, I am probably being too pedantic!  😂

[JohnS]

And Fritz frozen rather than on a wire albeit that was Act 1. I assume some of these changes were flagged up last year in the few performances pre lockdown, not that I saw any. 

[Rob S]

Just seen Nutcracker trailer that has been released today doesn't feature the Chinese or Arabian dance...the Arabian dance is understandable if it's not yet been filmed but the Chinese dance has been filmed at least once

[Sim]

31 minutes ago, JohnS said:

And Fritz frozen rather than on a wire albeit that was Act 1. I assume some of these changes were flagged up last year in the few performances pre lockdown, not that I saw any. 

True.  I wonder if it will come back.  It always elicited a laugh!

 

And now Clara and HP are welcomed to the SPF’s palace by the four cavaliers instead of the little boys.  A shame.  
 

 

[capybara]

I have a feeling that some of the changes introduced last year have been retained.

[AnticaFiamma]

2 hours ago, capybara said:

I have a feeling that some of the changes introduced last year have been retained.

yup, there's an interesting article in the program on how the ballet had been tweaked for Covid and they said they retained some of the changes this year as well, to avoid affecting a large number of dancers in case one turns out to be positive

[ninamargaret]

Haven't seen the production for many years, although am pretty familiar with it from various DVD s . Enjoyed the older version of the Arabian Dance more,but I do like the way Clara and the Nutcracker are involved in the dances in that act. Enjoyed Joe Sissens mime, and loved seeing Yuhui Choe back on stage. Nice start to Christmas but an occasional Nutcracker is all I need!

[lollylamb1]

Thanks for some of the explanations, makes sense being Covid related re: smaller Arabian dance, but still enjoyed the previous version and the Chinese dance too, the revised choreography, especially in the latter is rather absurd and not well thought out.

[Rob S]

This article in the Telegraph attempts to answer the question with photos plucked from god knows where and a statement that the version that has been replaced featured three women and one man (why are there four women in some photos?)

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/11/24/outdated-offensive-arabian-dance-nutcracker-reimagined-royal/

[bridiem]

15 minutes ago, Rob S said:

This article in the Telegraph attempts to answer the question with photos plucked from god knows where and a statement that the version that has been replaced featured three women and one man (why are there four women in some photos?)

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/11/24/outdated-offensive-arabian-dance-nutcracker-reimagined-royal/

 

The photos must all be of the old Scottish Ballet version, though captioned as though they're RB. Shows how much the editor/s know about the subject of the article.

[MJW]

46 minutes ago, Rob S said:

This article in the Telegraph attempts to answer the question with photos plucked from god knows where and a statement that the version that has been replaced featured three women and one man (why are there four women in some photos?)

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/11/24/outdated-offensive-arabian-dance-nutcracker-reimagined-royal/

 

Dear oh dear! I think the Telegraph might have got their wires crossed referencing three females and one male, when its the exact opposite!  I'm none the wiser as to quite why the decision has been made to change it (though I can well understand why the Chinese Dance was changed).

 

Anyway, perhaps its an improvement; I will find out on Monday!

[alison]

It's not the first time we've complained about the writer making major errors in relation to ballet and/or dance, IIRC.

[Sim]

Why would an august paper like the Telegraph get someone who clearly knows nothing about ballet to write about ballet?  Or at least get their ballet critic to proofread it?  

[Lizbie1]

7 hours ago, Sim said:

Why would an august paper like the Telegraph get someone who clearly knows nothing about ballet to write about ballet?  Or at least get their ballet critic to proofread it?  

 

When I see things like this I'm always reminded of something called Gell-Mann amnesia - in fact, I'm at the point where I don't need reminding any more and read everything in the papers with a touch of scepticism.

 

https://www.epsilontheory.com/gell-mann-amnesia/

[zxDaveM]

11 hours ago, Rob S said:

This article in the Telegraph attempts to answer the question with photos plucked from god knows where and a statement that the version that has been replaced featured three women and one man (why are there four women in some photos?)

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/11/24/outdated-offensive-arabian-dance-nutcracker-reimagined-royal/

 

The photos are mainly from ENB's version of the Arabian (which was completely tasteless in my view, what with the cracking of the whip etc)

[ninamargaret]

I admit to missing the Arab dance in the RB's Nureyev version - a perfect mini ballet by Ashton.

[zxDaveM]

8 hours ago, Sim said:

Why would an august paper like the Telegraph get someone who clearly knows nothing about ballet to write about ballet?  Or at least get their ballet critic to proofread it?  

 

...and yet the main dance critic for the Telegraph also gets it wrong about the Arabian - by saying the former version had 'three girls and a guy".

Doh!

[bridiem]

35 minutes ago, zxDaveM said:

 

The photos are mainly from ENB's version of the Arabian (which was completely tasteless in my view, what with the cracking of the whip etc)

 

So they're photos from a production not even mentioned in the article?! Wow. (And yes, they do look tasteless, which the old RB version was not, in my view.)

[alison]

8 hours ago, Sim said:

Why would an august paper like the Telegraph get someone who clearly knows nothing about ballet to write about ballet?  Or at least get their ballet critic to proofread it?  

 

Well, it's par for the course - as I said, the writer has previous.  And I fear the Telegraph stopped being "august" some considerable time ago  

[LinMM]

Yes I didn’t like the Arabian Dance from the current ENB production....unless they’ve changed it as it’s some years since I’ve seen their Nutcracker. 

[Lizbie1]

3 hours ago, alison said:

 

Well, it's par for the course - as I said, the writer has previous.  And I fear the Telegraph stopped being "august" some considerable time ago  

 

More disappointingly, the Times has now repeated the same mistakes!

[EVWS]

At least on the Times website you're allowed to comment on articles to highlight incorrect facts (unlike the Telegraph) 

[Lizbie1]

45 minutes ago, EVWS said:

At least on the Times website you're allowed to comment on articles to highlight incorrect facts (unlike the Telegraph) 

 

They've updated the picture, so 50% there - well done!

[EVWS]

They've updated it to 3 men and 1 women as well - small wins! 

[Lizbie1]

👏👏🥳

[JohnS]

Just been catching up on Private Eye and I see Lunchtime O’Boulez is recycling old and incorrect news regarding the Arabian Dance. To paraphrase: The ballet has been revised to be more appropriate and inclusive, altering the gender imbalance of three females and one male, which carried suggestions of a harem.

 

O’Boulez suggests people might try the Coliseum and Albert Hall but I don’t think they’ll see the Arabian Dance he suggests. Perhaps his memory reflects too good a lunch?

[Lizbie1]

I'm not a fan of Mr O'Boulez - their columns frequently read to me like warmed over gossip and opinion from the upper slips, together with some half-understood gleanings from forums and the press.

[Tony Newcombe]

1 hour ago, JohnS said:

Just been catching up on Private Eye and I see Lunchtime O’Boulez is recycling old and incorrect news regarding the Arabian Dance. To paraphrase: The ballet has been revised to be more appropriate and inclusive, altering the gender imbalance of three females and one male, which carried suggestions of a harem.

 

O’Boulez suggests people might try the Coliseum and Albert Hall but I don’t think they’ll see the Arabian Dance he suggests. Perhaps his memory reflects too good a lunch?

A load of O’boulez