W e l c o m e Dear Educator, Welcome to the Sacramento Ballet’s annual production of the Nutcracker. Please use this teacher information guide to help make your Theatre-going experience enjoyable and educational in accordance with California K-12 arts education standards. We believe that arts education is an invaluable aspect of learning, development, and growth for California students, and strive to contribute quality arts education in our community. We look forward to sharing this classic Christmas tale with you and your students, and thank you for joining us at the ballet where we hope your visit with Clara and the Sugar Plum Fairy is absolutely magical! Our education packet includes an array of information, activities, and materials to use with your students before and after your visit to the ballet. Thank you again for your support of the Sacramento Ballet, Sacramento Ballet Ron Cunningham, Carrine Binda, Artistic Directors Rae-Nani Stokes, Community Engagement Manager

INTRODUCTION

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MISSION The Sacramento Ballet entertains, educates, inspires and engages people through the powerful vehicle of dance.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

What is Ballet? 4

History of the Nutcracker Ballet 5

Sacramento Ballet’s the Nutcracker—Choreographer 6

Nutcracker Composer 7

Sacramento Philharmonic 8

Community Center Theater 11

The Nutcracker Story 12

Glossary of Terms 14

California Visual and Performing Arts Standards 15

Community Center Theater, Theater Etiquette 14

The Story of the Nutcracker Ballet 15

1.0 Artistic Perception Activity 16

2.0 Creative Expression Activity 17

3.0 Historical and Cultural Context Activity 19

4.0 Aesthetic Valuing Activity 20

5.0 Connections, Relationships, Applications 21

Auditory Activity 22

Movement Component 23

Visual Arts Activity 24

Coloring Activity 25

Word Jumble 26

Resources 29

Crossword 27

Word Search 28

Table of Contents

BALLET IS DANCE AND DANCE IS ART A painter uses color and elements of design to paint a picture or communicate a message, a writer uses words, and dancers use their bodies. Dance is an art form that uses physical movements to express emotions, culture, or as social interaction. Dancers use their arms, legs, heads, and torsos to twist, bend, jump, and turn through space making their bodies their “instrument” or “tool” of communication. There are many types of dance throughout the world with different sets of movements that make up their technique, however most dance forms are rhythmical or accompanied by music and are presented in a performance, spiritual, or social setting. Ballet is a form of dance that dates back approximately 500 years and is rooted in European culture and French Court Dances. Ballet is unique in the positioning of legs with outward hip rotation called turn out, and is the only form where female dancers wear special shoes and dance on their tip-toes, or en pointe. Ballet has a codified set of steps that make up the technique, and each has a French name which means ballet utilizes its own movement vocabulary. Professional Ballet is a performance dance that is executed by trained dancers, however classical ballet training is considered a strong foundation for many other dance forms such as jazz, tap, modern and contemporary.

DANCE AROUND THE WORLD

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WHAT IS BALLET?

Dance is a universal art form, and is found in cultures in all parts of the world. In Africa, Asia, Europe, and North, Central and South America, indigenous people have dances for many purposes including, but not limited to performance art. Dance around the world is enjoyed for social and/or religious reasons in addition to the viewing pleasure of an audience. Some dance forms have been fused to create new forms for performance,

such as Jazz, Modern and Musical Theater which create new movements and/or take elements of world dance and mix them with the codified techniques of classical dance. Many new styles and forms have emerged around the world as dancers, teachers, and choreographers have used fusion to create dance which offers a broader vocabulary, mixing elements from different styles.

Other forms of Dance include but are not limited to: Ethnic Liturgical Jazz Spiritual Modern Contemporary Social Hip Hop Tap Breakdancing Musical Theater

Can you think of some of the ways these dance forms are similar? Can you describe 5 ways these dance forms are different? You can think about movement styles, costumes, settings, and reasons the dance is performed.

The Nutcracker Ballet is an American Christmas pastime and opportunity for many dancers to first ex-perience performing. The Nutcracker’s origins trace back to Russia in the late 1800’s where a “dream team” of Choreographer Petipa and Composer Tchaycovski created the ballet based on ETA Hoffman’s story the Nutcracker and the Mouseking. Petipa became ill while choreographing the ballet and his as-sistant Lev Ivonov completed the choreography. The ballet was not highly received at its debut in St. Petersburg, and not until 50 years later did it become an American Christmas icon. In the 1900’s touring Russian ballet companies brought the Nutcracker to the United States. Four years later The Nutcracker was born as a full-length Ballet when William Christiensen choreographed it for the San Francisco Ballet. In 1954 George Balanchine created his Nutcracker for the New York City Ballet which CBS televised in 1958, making ballet and specifically the Nutcracker, more accessible to Ameri-can audiences. American audiences loved the Nutcracker for the same reasons it was disliked in Rus-sia, the use of children in major roles for example, and the idealized Christmas scenario. The ballet reflected our idealization of home and the holidays. Following suit of NYCB and SFB, professional ballet companies and ballet schools across the United States created their own versions of the Nutcracker. Every year ballet patrons relive the ballet’s Christ-mas magic, and new dance students practice to perfect the ballet. Most versions of the Nutcracker share elements of ETA Hoffman’s original story and the use of Tchakiovski’s music. Many versions in-clude both professional dancers and roles for dance students. In 1987 Sacramento Ballet continued the legacy of the Nutcracker by staging an original version. Our current production is choreographed by Ron Cunningham with beautiful sets and dramatic costumes. It includes a cast of over 500 children. Each year the company and cast rehearses 3 months for the 2-week run sharing the Nutcracker legacy and magic with audiences of all ages. The Nutcracker has become a cultural icon in the United States and a cornerstone in Ballet repertoire reflecting our values of children, home, holidays, and magic with the excellence and beauty of ballet.

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HISTORY OF THE NUTCRACKER BALLET

The Nutcracker has become a cultural icon in the United States and a cornerstone of ballet repertoire, reflecting our values of

home, holidays, and magic.

RON CUNNINGHAM The Sacramento Ballet features a full-length version of the time-honored Christmas classic: The Nut-cracker Ballet, choreographed by Ron Cunningham. The current version made its debut 23 years ago with beautiful sets and brightly colored costumes. Mr. Cunningham incorporates many elements of design and detail in his version of the Nutcracker. He includes many roles for students which allows local dance students to begin the performing experience early in their training, and experience performing on a full-size stage. Mr. Cunningham’s version of the Nutcracker has over 500 students performing along side the Sacramento Ballet Company members each year, and is the longest running holiday event in Sacramento.

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CHOREOGRAPHER

The music of the Nutcracker is a swirling and vivid score which allows for a wonderful expression of movement and story. Its harmonious melodies have delighted audiences since the late 1800’s and it is a masterwork of Russian composer Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky’s. Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky was born in 1840 to a working class family with expectations of raising him to be a civil servant. Early on he showed an inclination towards music despite little encouragement from his parents. He began studying music on and off at four years of age. He also attended the school of jurisprudence. Tchaikovsky turned to music to release emotion, dedicating his first waltz to his mother after her passing. After a brief career as a civil servant Tchaikovsky quit his job to study music full time at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. He graduated in 1865 and his first symphony performed publically in 1868.

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Tchaikovsky’s work was often harshly judged by critics, yet popular with audiences. He was the first Russian composer to incorpo-rate Western European ideals into his com-position and move away from nationalistic themes. Tchaikovsky wanted to incorporate a worldly professionalism and high skill while pleasing a broad, international public. Despite difficulties in his personal life, Tchaikovsky excelled professionally, He was a professor at the Moscow Conservatory and a composer. He secured private patron-ship and gave up his professorship to focus on composing. Tchaikovsky was recognized by the Tzar of Russia and made Russian nobility. He received a lifetime pension, and in 1893 received an honorary Doctorate of Music from the University of Cambridge in Britain.

THE NUTCRACKER COMPOSER: PETER ILICH TCHAIKOVSKY

Tchaikovsky’s music created a bridge between old and new styles. He included harmonies, melodies and tempos reminiscent of folk tunes and created a Western European sound, through scale, color, and sequential style. He infused his com-positions with an emotional intensity. Tchaikovsky made tremendous strides for dance music , composing for the ballets Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and the Nutcracker, displaying danseuse (quality where the melody matches physical movement perfectly). Tchaikovsky’s music has been described as romantic, charming, unpretentious, technically challenging, elegant , nationalistic, lyrical and intensely emotional, yet in all his music one can hear his thoughtfulness to craftsmanship and tunefulness. He passed in 1893 at the age of 53, leaving behind a legacy of internationally recognized music which audiences delight in to this day.

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SACRAMENTO PHILHARMONIC

LOVER OF HARMONY

For more information about the Sacramento Philharmonic visit them online at: http://www.sacphil.org/

The Sacramento Philharmonic partners with the Sacramento Ballet in the production of the Nut-cracker playing the music live and creating another layer of magic and excitement to the holiday tradition. The Sacramento Philharmonic is a well-respected, professional orchestra providing Sacramento with high quality music and reviving the city’s passion for classical music. The Phil-harmonic is a large group of musicians that rehearse and play classical music in Sacrament for large audiences. The group is conducted (lead) by the Conductor and Music Director Michael Morgan. The conductor’s job is to make sure all the musicians are playing the correct section of music at the correct time, to lead the group in tempo (how fast or slow the music is played), vol-ume (how loud or soft the music is played), and artistic direction.. The Sacramento Philharmonic boasts world renown guest conductors and musicians. It is in its 13th season and is a leading orchestra in the central valley. They currently have an orchestra comprised of over 83 musicians with over 22 different instruments and give back to the community through outreach, family pro-grams, and partnerships with other local arts organizations such as the Sacramento Ballet and Sacramento Opera.

Violin, Violin 2

Viola Cello

Bass Flute Piccolo

Oboe

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INSTRUMENTS OF THE SACAMENTO PHILHARMONIC

English Horn Clarinet Bass Clarinet

Bassoon Contra Bassoon

Trumpet

Trombone

French Horn

Tuba

Bass Trombone Timpani

Keyboards

Percussion Harp

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INSTRUMENTS OF THE SACAMENTO PHILHARMONIC

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COMMUNITY CENTER THEATER

THEATER ETIQUETTE Please inform your students of the following guidelines. We want everyone to enjoy their magical experience at the ballet. We encourage you to use the following live performance guidelines as a teaching tool for good behavior at the performance.

No late seating: Please arrive early to allow time for parking and entering the theater. Once the performance has begun, we will not interrupt the performance by opening the doors to the seating area. No food or drink may be brought into the theatre: No refreshments are sold during student matinees. No outside food or drink is allowed in the theatre. No electronic or recording devices of any kind: All performance elements are protected by copyright, taking photographs or making a recording of any kind is prohibited by law. In addition: The dancers use a red light at the back of the theatre to help them turn. They focus on this light (called “spotting”) to help keep them from getting dizzy. A camera flash, cell phone light or video light could confuse the dancers and possibly cause them to fall. Stay in your seat: Once the performance has begun, no child is allowed in the lobby without an adult. Please note: you will not be allowed back into the seating area of theater if you leave your seat. Patrons will be allowed to return to their seats when the performance has ended or at intermission. No talking: We would like everyone to appreciate the live performance and not be distracted. Applause: Show your appreciation with thunderous applause. Do not scream. If you wish to express your enthusiasm with words, yell “Brava!” for the ballerina and “Bravo!” for the male dancer. No throwing: It is distracting to your fellow audience members and especially to the dancers on stage. Adults are requested to remove disruptive children: Students may be asked to leave the theatre for inappropriate behavior. Please keep your feet off of the seat in front of you. Turn off your cell phones and ENJOY THE SHOW!

The Community Center Theater is the premiere home to the performing arts in Sacramento. It is a large theater where people can view live performances, located at 13th and L Streets in the heart of Downtown. Locally it hosts the Sacramento Ballet, The Sacramento Opera, the Sacramento Philharmonic, and The Sacramento Broadway Series in addition to many other world famous performers, speakers, and events. The location is part of the Sacramento Convention Center Complex and can seat over 2,000 in its 3-level Theatre.

PRE-PERFORMANCE BRAINSTORM ACTIVITY Have students as a group or on a piece of paper as a writing activity answer the following questions:

1) What do you think of when you think of

the word ballet?

2) Can boys dance ballet?

3) What are costumes?

4) Where do ballet dancers dance?

Have students save their answers and have them answer the same questions on a separate sheet of paper after viewing the ballet. Compare the answers.

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1.0 ARTISTIC PERCEPTION ACTIVITY

Ballet is a wonderful door that opens discussions and learning about dance, music, art, storytelling. Ask your students a few questions to get them ready for seeing and learning while at the ballet.

MOVEMENT ACTIVITY– Warm Ups Warming up is an integral part of any dance or movement exercise. Like athletes Ballet dancers must warm up their bodies to prevent injury and maximize their physical ability while training and performing. Warming up the body does not have to be simple executing steps. Movement games are a great way to get the body moving and introduce students to a physical self awareness, their physical connection and relationship to fellow students, and a familiarity with movement before stepping into dance steps and/or movements. As an instructor, experiment with different ways to warm your students up. When weather permits take them outside to do the warm up games in a larger out-door area. Grades K-2 Musical Chairs Materials: Circle of chairs, mats or cushions (something for each student to sit on), one per student, CD player or radio Place the chairs in a circle, start each student seated on a chair. Have all students stand and remove one chair. Explain that students will circle the chairs going counter clockwise, moving to the music. When the music stops they must find a chair/mat/cushion to sit on. There will be one person who does not find a chair. Have them sit outside the circle until the next round. Encourage students to try different movements as the make their way around the circle, clapping, stomping, and turning are all great ways to move in a circle. Also encourage students to be aware of their physical space so they don’t bump into one another. Each time the music stops and one person steps out, also remove a chair. Continue until one chair and two students are left. Continue through the last round until one student is seated in one chair. After each round replace the chairs and begin again. Continue game at least 3-4 times. While engaged in the “game” students will experience an increased sense of physical awareness, both of themselves and in relation to their fellow students. Students will also gain increased experience moving to music, familiarizing themselves with the beginning stages of dance.

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2.0 CREATIVE EXPRESSION ACTIVITY

MOVEMENT ACTIVITY– Warm Ups Continued Grades K-12 Name Game Materials: Space for entire group to stand in a circle Have group stand in a circle. Begin with one person making a movement, shape or gesture (like jump-ing, or waving) while saying their name. You can give the prompt for older students to do a gesture that reflects how they are feeling (i.e. if they are happy they can jump up and down, if they are tired they could rest their head on their forearm). Have entire group in unison copy the shape/movement and say the first person’s name. Continue to the next student. Have the second student say their name and make a movement. Group does the first person’s movement and name, then adds the second person’s movement and name. Continue around the circle until all students have said their name and created a movement, shape or gesture and entire group is doing all the movements and names in a row. By the end, there will be a series of movement/names reflecting all participants. Discuss how a series of movements is a basic dance, thus, all participants have contributed to choreo-graphing dance: a series of prescribed movements. As the instructor you can also encourage a wide variety of movements. Allow all appropriate movements to be valid, if a student is having trouble coming up with something give them to the count of three, if they shrug their shoulders or nod their head this can be their movement. Movements can be simple! This exercise is a good warm up to get the body moving, the brain stimulated, utilize memory, and stimulate creativity.

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2.0 CREATIVE EXPRESSION ACTIVITY

CELEBRATIONS AROUND THE WORLD In the Nutcracker story Clara’s family celebrates the Winter Holiday Christmas. What are other holidays that people celebrate around the world? As a class, research different holidays celebrated around the world answering the questions: 1) Who celebrates this holiday? 2) What do people do on this holiday? Are there games they play, songs they sing, food they eat, etc.

that is part of the holiday tradition? 3) When is this holiday celebrated? 4) Where is this holiday celebrated? 5) Why do people celebrate this holiday? 6) How is this holiday celebrated—what are customs and traditions people do when celebrating this

holiday? Your class can stick to winter holidays, or can explore holidays celebrated around the world all throughout the year. This activity can be as a group learning project presented by the teacher for younger grades, or can be assigned individually to students who write up their findings and/or present their findings as in-class presentations. In addition to presenting the information verbally or written have students draw a picture relating a visual element to their findings. For example, students can draw a picture of people celebrating their holiday, a flag from the country where the holiday is celebrated, or an item used in the celebration. For the Nutcracker and Christmas a student might draw a picture of a Christmas tree.

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3.0 HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT ACTIVITY

POST PERFORMANCE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1) What is one thing you remember about the performance?

2) What was your favorite part?

3) Ballet dancers dance to music. What does the music sound like in the Nutcracker?

4) What kinds of costumes did the dancers wear?

5) What was your favorite costume?

6) How did the dancers move?

7) What kinds of shapes did the dancers make with their bodies?

8) What colors did you see in the ballet? When did you see those colors?

9) Both kids and adults dance in the Nutcracker. What kinds of parts do kids play in the Nutcracker?

10) What time of year does the story take place?

11) Where does the story take place?

12) What time period is the story set? Is it today, in the past, or in the future?

13) Who are the main characters in the Nutcracker?

14) What does an audience do when they like the dance they have seen?

15) Do you have any holiday traditions you celebrate with your family?

16) Clara goes to a magical land of sweets and candy, if you could go to a magical land what would it be

like? What would you like to do there? What would it look like? What would it smell like? What would

you eat there? What kinds of sounds would you hear there? What kinds of things could you touch?

VISUAL ART ACTIVITY 1) Have students draw a picture of their ideal imaginary land using the cues above. This project can

also be done as a multi-media collage using found objects, pictures from magazines, etc.

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4.0 AESTHETIC VALUING ACTIVITY

CULTURE Culture stems from a group’s set of values. A value is a belief that you/your family or your community thinks is important. Use the space below to write down three values that are important to your family. Why are they important?

ASSOCIATIONS Have you ever seen a movie, play, painting, dance or heard music that reminded you of home? What images, sights, sounds, smells, tastes and textures remind you of home?

CONNECTION Does your family celebrate any holidays? What is your favorite holiday tradition or something your family likes to do on a regular basis?

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5.0 CONNECTIONS, RELATIONSHIPS AND APPLICATIONS ACTIVITY

HISTORY Match Match the dates to the corresponding events

Sacramento Ballet premiere’s its version of 1958 Ron Cunningham’s the Nutcracker The Nutcracker is first performed at the Marinskii Theatre 1987 George Balanchine’s Nutcracker airs on CBS 1892

Supplies: CD Player, CD of Nutcracker Ballet Music by Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky Directions: Play Trepak from second act of Nutcracker. Play Arabian from Second Act of Nutcracker. Discuss using discussion questions below. 1) What were some differences you head in the two pieces of music? 2) Which piece of music was faster? Which piece was slower? 3) How did the first piece of music make you feel? 4) How did the second piece of music make you feel?

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AUDITORY ACTIVITY

Have students lie down (or sit depending on space available) and close their eyes. Play the first piece again and ask students following question: With your eyes closed did you see

anything while listening to the music? Pictures, colors, places, people?

Have students lie down or sit with eyes closed and play the second piece of music and ask same questions: With your eyes closed did you see

anything while listening to the music? Pictures, colors, places, people?

What are differences in what you saw between the two pieces of music? What about the music made you see what you saw? What about the music do you think made you feel what you felt? If the music were a color, what color would it be and why? The second piece of music is called Arabian—why do you think it has that title?

DIRECTIONS To be done after a physical warm up, such as walking and running around the room, jumping jax, or as a component of a dance class: Play the first piece of music. Have the students dance how the music makes them feel. As you watch them dance, describe what you are seeing, i.e. “I see jumping, spinning, big shapes…” - give the students directions such as:

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MOVEMENT COMPONENT

Dance as if you were under water Think of an animal, dance like that animal Roll Jump Run Walk

Dance as fast as you can Dance as slow as you can Dance as big as you can Dance as little as you can Make large shapes Make small shapes Dance on the floor

VISUAL ARTS ACTIVITY: Design a set and costume for the dancer and the stage.

RESOURCES www.sacballet.org http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyotr_Ilyich_Tchaikovsky http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=slv8-msgr&p=peter%20ilyich%20tchaikovsky&type= Instruments: http://www.sacphil.org/ftp_only/the_instruments_of_the_orchestra.pdf http://www.sfballet.org/ http://www.nycballet.com/nycb/home/ http://abt.org/ http://www.pnb.org/ http://www.pnbunleashed.com/PNB_Unleashed/PNB_Unleashed.html http://paballet.org/ Fischer Jennifer; Nutcracker Nation; Yale University Press; New Haven CT; 2003 California Department of Education; Visual and Performing Arts Framework for California Public Schools; Sacramento, CA; 2004