Fairy Tales: Hoffmann & Thoughts on The Nutcracker

Encountering The Nutcracker in the fairy tale section of the library reminded me of the difficulty of categorizing. 

Should The Nutcracker be placed in the 700s with the other ballet books because most people, including me, expect to find it there? If I went searching for it in the 700s without checking the computer first would I be frustrated by its non-appearance or delighted to learn--as I admit I only recently learned--that it was originally not a ballet but a fairy tale written by E.T.A. Hoffman in 1816?

It was adapted to a ballet in 1892 with Tchaikovsky's music. Hoffmann was connected to the theater and music world, so the connection is not as remote as it sounds. He was a theater manager, a respected music critic, a composer, and a writer. He belongs to the period of German Romanticism. His career of brilliance followed by a run of unfortunate events and decisions reminded me of Edgar Allan Poe, who was familiar with his work. Like Poe, he laid down plots and ideas that far outlasted his short life (he died when he was 46). The ballet Coppélia is also based on Hoffmann's fiction. 

Balanchine delivered his famous version of The Nutcracker in 1954. I have seen the ballet several times and rewatched the live 2011 version on Youtube (it won an Emmy)--and I was reminded why I generally enjoy books and movies about ballet dancers more than ballet itself. 

In fact, one of my favorite books growing up was one of the A Very Young...books by Jill Krementz: A Very Young Dancer tells the true life story of the ten-year-old School of American Ballet dancer chosen to play Marie in The Nutcracker. Love that behind the scenes stuff!

The Nutcracker is something I'm glad I saw--and I remember quite enjoying in-person live performances as a kid--but it also reminds me of the many musicals I've seen. I love musicals until about 90 minutes in, at which point my brain starts to go, "Seriously? Another song? Really? Get on with the plot already." 

I also tend to find puppets and dummies rather alarming (yep, I'm one of those people who dislikes clowns). 

Consequently, to read the tale, I turned to a collection of Hoffmann's tales, The Best Tales of Hoffmann, edited by E.F. Bleiler, rather than any of the lushly illustrated books that turn up in the fairy tale section. For one, quite honestly, the lushly illustrated books have terrible fonts. The failure to deliver decent text is a real failing, in my mind. A big picture of a nutcracker doesn't make up for the bad font; it just gives me nightmares. 

I was most surprised to find that the ballet follows the first part of the tale fairly closely: Christmas Eve, presents, the gift of the Nutcracker by the eccentric godfather, the breaking of the Nutcracker, the arrival of the nutty mice, the Nutcracker's attempts to fight them off, the thrown shoe...

The ballet departs from the story at this pivotal point--for one, the Nutcracker becomes human in the ballet while in the story, his "curse" is not ended until after Godpapa Drosselmeier provides an explanation of the curse--it was due to the Mouse King. Marie then sacrifices a great many of her toys to save the Nutcracker from being chewed up by mice. She finally manages to convince Fritz to help and he provides the Nutcracker with a sword. The action takes place over some time.

It's quite readable! Bleiler points out that English Victorians tended to translate Hoffmann into tedious English, but Hoffmann's German was, in fact, brisk and modern. As Bleiler states, Hoffmann has "the technique of presenting the supernatural convincingly. He can arouse momentary conviction and acceptance for even the most outrageous fantasy." In fact, the story reminded me of Japanese anime like Spirited Away in which the dream world overlaps with the "real" world without apology (and far less dancing).