Questions we Can Help you to Answer

Paper Instructions:

The Nutcracker 

If you crave high culture during the Christmas season, you will probably turn to two classic productions: Handel’s Messiah (a portion of which we examined in Module 5) and Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. The Nutcracker actually expands the dance art form to include much more of what we would expect in theatre than is usual in this medium. This makes the experience all the richer and provides additional clues to the story being told.

Using the outline given below, write a critical analysis of part of Act One from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker: The Nutcracker Ballet
(Links to an external site.)
Links to an external site.
[Video file][45 min 21 sec] (minimum one-full page). Refer to the example at the end of Chapter 9 as a guide, but be sure to include the following expanded outline points:
Genre
Overall theme
Story line, movement (including the basic dance steps you recognize, mime and pantomime)
Characters
Costuming
Mise-en-scene (set)
Score (musical background)
Use of color
Lighting techniques
You will need to do some research to obtain information about the story, as we are only viewing the first part of the production.
Be sure to include a convincing, inclusive conclusion at the end of your critical analysis and a bibliography of at least two sources that you used to prepare your analysis, one of which may be the class text. Do not use and cite Wikipedia. Instead, visit the Excelsior College Library to learn about academic sources. The page on Evaluating Information Evaluating Information
(Links to an external site.)
Links to an external site.
  includes helpful sections on "Print vs. Web Resources," Evaluation Criteria," Evaluation Scenarios," and "Media Literacy."