nutcrackerteacher study guide - mcb · debra pearse rogo artistic director ! the nutcracker study...

Debra Pearse Rogo Artistic Director

The Nutcracker Study Guide

For Grade 5 Teachers

Aligned with Common Core and Washington State Standards

2 www.midcolumbiaballet.org

Table of Contents

Welcome

About Mid-‐Columbia Ballet Arts Integrated Educational Outreach Program Correlation to Washington State Standards for Dance

Pre Show Activities

Performance Etiquette About The Nutcracker

The Story The Composer: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Ballet as an Art What is Dance? What makes Ballet unique?

Are there different kinds of Ballet? Vocabulary

Post Show Activities

Introducing Pantomime Story Perspective Compare and Contrast Around the World States of Matter

Word Puzzles Mad Lib

Crossword Word Search


About Mid-Columbia Ballet Mid-‐Columbia Ballet is a non-‐profit corporation whose

mission is to foster the art of dance in our community. The

pre-‐professional company consists of dancers between 10

and 18 years of age who are committed to the art of ballet.

MCB’s repertoire includes classical, neoclassical, and modern

works by choreographers from throughout the United States

and is led by Artistic Director, Debra Pearse Rogo. Mid

Columbia Ballet is sponsored in part by donations from

Battelle, Fox Vance Family Foundation, Target, US Bank, and

Three Rivers Community Foundation. Since 1991, more than

61,000 area youth have seen this special production. We depend on the support of the

community to build and maintain the resources that allow us to provide our community with

high quality dance performances.

Arts Integrated Educational Outreach Program In 2014 Mid Columbia Ballet introduced the Arts Integrated program, which is a collection of

three programs that advocate for arts education in the community. In the 21st century, a specific

set of tools are becoming increasingly important. These skills obviously include Core Subjects,

such as reading, writing, arithmetic and technology skills. Our skill set isn’t complete however

without creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. These “4C’s” are

developed through the arts and these interactive performances will demonstrate to the students

and teachers how dance and the arts unlock student potential and passion for learning. Intuition,

self-‐expression and independent thinking give students the capacity to become individuals and

are ways of learning that are developed through dance and the Arts.


The outreach events under the umbrella of the Arts Integrated program include:

• The Science of Dance, a 50-‐minute lecture demonstration for one to three classrooms

that introduces ballet through the lens of time, force, and energy. (April-‐June;

$75/event)

• The Ugly Duckling or Peter and the Wolf (alternate years) school assembly

performances, a 45-‐minute ballet performance complete with sets, narrated music,

and a question and answer. These performances teach school children about the

importance of respect, honesty, and friendship through an age appropriate story

ballet. (April-‐June; $75/event)

• The Nutcracker school performances are for area 5th graders, and are held at Richland

High Auditiorim. The running time for the show is approximately one hour with the

opportunity for students to see exciting production elements that happened behind

the scenes, and hear from fellow 5th graders in the cast. (December $5/person)

These four programs are specifically designed for K-‐5 students and teachers to invite

participants into the world of ballet. At a time where meaningful arts education is rare, the

Integrated Arts Program provided by Mid Columbia Ballet is a powerful resource for teachers

who know the power the arts can bring to the development of their students and school

communities. For information about scheduling an event from our Integrated Arts Program,

please contact [email protected] or call (509) 946-‐5417

“Through collaborative efforts in melding core curriculum with artistic expression, the participants’ whole minds (and often hearts) are engaged in class, and critical thinking and creativity no longer are treated as opposite modalities.” Gail Burnaford


Correlation to Washington State Standards for Dance

EARL 2.3. GLE: 2.3.1 Applies a responding process to a performance and/or presentation of

dance. (Engages, describes, analyzes, interprets, and evaluates)

This study guide provides teachers and students with tools for reflecting and interpreting the

performance. This guide will deepen and enrich the experience of the students and allow them to

speak more clearly about their thoughts and use dance-‐specific language to analyze their

experience as well as be able to make connections to content being currently studied in the in

classroom.

EARL 4.1 GLE: 4.1.1. Analyzes and applies skills, concepts and vocabulary that dance has in

common with other arts disciplines

Among the opportunity for 5th graders to learn about the vocabulary, production elements, and

story making of ballet, this guide also provides activities that encourage students to integrate

their existing skills, knowledge of concepts, and vocabulary into their new ballet knowledge. This

opportunity to express existing knowledge in a new way will deepen the students attachment to

both the academic and artistic experience.

EARL 4.4. GLE: 4.4.1 Understand how the arts influence and reflect cultures/civilization,

place and time. The Nutcracker is set in the late 19th century/early 20th century, a time period

which is reflected by the costumes, sets, movements, and gestures of the dancers. Through this

guide, students will have the opportunity to reflect on the differences between the time period of

The Nutcracker and of the current time period.


Performance Etiquette

• Go to the bathroom before the performance begins.

• No food or drinks during the performance, and no video, cameras or other recording.

• Turn OFF all phones and pagers before the performance begins. Texting or using a lighted screen during a performance is distracting to other audience members

• Practice active listening with your body during the performance. Sit up tall, focus your

eyes on the performers, focus your ears on the music or sounds, keep your voice silent, and notice the feelings and thoughts that enter your mind.

• Always feel free to applaud when you see something you like. Dancers love to hear that

the audience is paying attention and enjoying the show!

• Notice cues that the show is about to begin so you can get quiet and settled. Those cues may be that the lights dim or darken, or that someone walks into the space for an introduction.

• Be respectful of those around you as well as the performers and refrain from talking until

the performance has completely ended, including question and answer sessions.

Enjoy the Show!


The Story

First presented on December 17, 1892 at the Maryinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, the story of

The Nutcracker is based on a tale by E.T.A. Hoffmann, a musician and lawyer as well as one of the

master novelists of the Romantic Movement in Germany. The versions of Nutcracker performed

today contain virtually none of the choreography by Ivanov from the original production. What

has survived is the immortal Tchaikovsky score based on a story scenario by Marius Petipa,

adapted from the original Hoffmann tale.

The story beings on Christmas Eve. Dr. and Mrs. Stahlbaum are having

their annual Christmas Eve celebration. Their children, Clara and Fritz,

and their guests happily admire the treasures under the brightly

decorated Christmas tree. As more guests arrive, presents are opened

and the excitement grows. Soon, Clara’s godfather, Herr Drosselmeyer,

and inventor and magician arrives. He gives Fritz a mouse doll, and

then he chooses Clara for a very special gift, a lovely wooden doll – a Nutcracker. Fritz jealously

chases Clara, teasing her with the mouse doll, causing Clara to trip and drop the Nutcracker.

Drosselmeyer comes to her rescue and returns the Nutcracker to her. After the guests depart and

everyone is asleep, Clara tiptoes back into the darkened living room to find her beloved

Nutcracker. An army of huge rats and mice attack Clara. Drosselmeyer appears and stranger

things begin to happen. The Nutcracker, and the Christmas tree begin to grow, and life-‐size toy

soldiers and cavalry attack the rats and mice while the Rat King and the Nutcracker begin their

battle. The horrible mice hopelessly outnumber the soldiers, and the evil Rat King seizes Clara.

The noble Nutcracker has no choice but to surrender. The Rat King release Clara and is about to

deal the Nutcracker a fatal blow, when Clara outsmarts the terrible villain!

Clara is rewarded for her bravery, and transported to the Land of Snow. The journey continues

onto the Kingdom of Sweets. Trumpets sound, heralding the arrival of sweets from around the

world. Finally, the Sugar Plum Fairy and her handsome Cavalier dance a beautiful Grand Pas de

Deux for Clara’s enjoyment. Eventually though, the dream must come to an end as everyone

gathers to bid Clara farewell.


The Composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovskey was born in Russian on May 7, 1840. He was a very

bright child who could read Russian, French and German by the time he was

six years old. Peter once said, “I started to compose as soon as I knew what

music was.”

He showed an interest in music that was so strong for a young child that his governess worried

about him. If he could not find a piano to try out the music he made up, he would use his fingers

to tap out his tunes on the windowpanes of his house. One time while he was doing this he

tapped so hard that he broke the glass of the window and cut himself very badly.

Peter began taking piano lessons when he was six years old. After attending boarding school he

studied law and mathematics and got a job as a clerk working in the Ministry of Justice. After just

four years he quit his job to go to music school full time in order to study composition. He was

soon invited to teach classes. Tchaikovsky was a nervous, unhappy man all his life, yet his

beautiful music made him the most popular of all Russian composers.

He wrote the music for the three most famous ballets of all time, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and

The Sleeping Beauty. In his lifetime he also wrote nine operas, six symphonies, four concertos,

three string quartets, and numerous songs, suites and overture. One of his most famous pieces in

the 1812 Overture, which uses cannons and church bells; because it sounds so grand it is often

chose to accompany fireworks at 4th of July celebrations. Tchaikovsky was only 53 when he died

in St. Petersburg in 1893. He had just completed his sixth symphony which he felt was the best

piece of music he ever created.

Web Links: http://www.nutcracker.com/about-‐mb/history-‐of-‐nutcracker http://www.artsalive.ca/en/mus/greatcomposers/tchaikovsky.html http://www.ipballet.org/


Ballet as an Art What is Dance?

Dance is a series of movements in which a dancer twists, bends, jumps, turns, and stretches.

All genres, or forms of dance, are set to music with varying tempos (speeds) and technique

that is specific to each genre. There are many styles of dance including ballroom, folk

dance, modern dance, hip-‐hop, ballet and more.

What makes Ballet unique?

Ballet is remarkable from the other dance forms because of a feature called turnout.

Turnout is the outward rotation of the legs from the hips and is an important tool for ballet

dancers to be able to move easily in all directions. In training, dancers use a long pole

attached to the wall called the barre (pronounced “bar”) for support in helping to train the

muscles to turn out and develop for precision of line and shape. Ballet is the only dance

form which uses Pointe Shoes (pronounced point). These shoes are worn by a female

dancer which enable them to dance on the tips of their toes. The area covering the toe is

hardened by layers of fabric glued together in the shape of a “box”. To keep the sheos on

tightly, dancers sew satin ribbons and elastics onto the sides and tie them securely around

their ankles.

Are there different kinds of Ballet?

Ballet is an extremely old art form, dating back to Europe in the mid 17th Century, in the

court of King Louis XIV of France. You will notice that vocabulary used to describe ballet

steps and technique is in French, this is the language of ballet. The interesting thing about

ballet is that it is not just one type of movement, costume, music, or story. Sometimes, like

The Nutcracker, ballet reflects and older time, with elaborate costumes, dramatic acting,

and grand settings. Other times ballet can reflect something very contemporary, with sleek

costumes, minimal sets and less obvious acting.

Web Links: http://www.abt.org/education/dictionary/index.html http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/lessons/grade-6-8/Elements_of_Ballet http://video.about.com/dance/The-Five-Ballet-Positions.htm


Vocabulary Classical Ballet The most formal of ballet styles, it adheres strictly to traditional ballet

techniques with variations relating to origin (Russian, French, Italian) and is known for graceful, flowing and precise movements. Classical ballets often follow clear story lines.

Neoclassical Ballet Uses traditional ballet vocabulary but is less formal than classical

ballet, often with more extreme tempos, more abstract themes (less narrative) and more simplistic and bold visuals.

Modern Ballet Influenced by both ballet and modern dance forms it uses the

principles of classical ballet but has greater variations in shapes and movement of the body. Often this includes movements on or near the floor and while in classical ballet the objective is to always appear “weightless,” in modern ballet the objective is often the opposite, to appear “grounded” or “weighted”.

Repertoire The list of all the pieces of choreography that a company has

performed. Choreographer The person who creates a dance. Artistic Director The person who selects the works to be performed, chooses the

choreographers, and who hires the dancers in a company. The Artistic Director is responsible for the overall vision of the theater, ballet, or opera company.

Set Designer The person to creates the design for all the sets seen during a

production. Stage Manager: The person responsible for directing all the technical arrangements for

a performance which may include lighting, moving sets, music, and organizing performers and crew in the backstage area.


Pirouette: A pirouette is a rotation on one foot, and is made by making a complete

turn around yourself while balance on one foot, with the other leg in a specific position (often times with the foot at the knee, while the knee is pointing sideways, creating a triangle). Pirouettes can begin from fourth, fifth, or second position. Try one in an open space!

Grand Jete: A Grand Jete is a leap from one leg to the other, very high into the air. It

often accompanies a loud crash in the music or some sort of excitement in the scene.

Pas de deux: A Pas de deux is a dance for two

people, typically a man and a woman. A pas de deux is different from simply dancing together because one partner, usually the man, lifts his partner higher than she can jump alone, turns her more times that she can rotate on her own, and helps her balance longer than she could on her own.

Pantomime: Pantomime is when a dancer “speaks” without using any words to

express thoughts, ideas, and feelings. Pantomime uses the face and body to communicate a mood emotion or describe an action without using words.

Gesture: An accented movement. Motif: A reoccurring movement or gesture throughout the piece.


Post Show Activities Introduce pantomime: From the ArtsEdge lesson “Telling a Story through Dance”

• Wave to the students with a smile on your face. Point to a student. (The student

should say “hello”). Then, frown and pretend to cry. Point to a student. (The

student should say “I’m sad.”) Finally, furrow your brow and fold your arms. Point

to a student. (The student should say “I’m angry.”).

• Next, tell the class that you are going to pretend to do something. They must guess

what you are trying to communicate. Pantomime the process of getting into a car,

starting it, and driving it. When you have finished, ask students what you did.

• Set up situations, emotions or ideas for the students to express themselves

through pantomime. After some practice time ask students what they did that was

special to show different situations. Gather a few responses and allow the

students to begin again.

Now direct students to think of a story they know that could be told without words (a

fairy tale, etc). Have each student think of a scene from the story and pantomime it for

the class. Explain to the students that when they go to the theater to see The Nutcracker

the primary focus will be on the ballet dancing, but pantomime will be an important tool

for story telling. Ask students to try and remember at least one moment they recognized

pantomime. Follow up on this question after the performance.

Link to Full Lesson: http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/lessons/grade-3-4/Telling_a_Story_Dance#Instruction


Story Perspective Standards Connection: ELA-‐Literacy. W. 5.3.A.

• Tell the story of The Nutcracker from the perspective of Drosselmeyer. Keep in mind the

time period of the story. How would someone form the historical and geographical period

represented talk, walk, eat, and/or think? What kind of place might they live? How do

they commute to the party? What are current fashion, food, or music trends/

Compare and Contrast Standards Connection: ELA-‐Literacy. RL. 5. 9

• Have students compare The Nutcracker with another folk tale or fairy tale that they are

familiar with. Encourage students to compare and contrast the two stories through many

lens including: transformation, dream, journey, recurring characters, the problem the

resolution, etc. Use a graphic organizer, such as a Venn diagram to demonstrate the

comparison. The graphic organizer can then be used as a pre writing tool for a paragraph

or essay.

Around the World Standards Connection: EALR: 3.1 Geography

• Look at a world map. When Clara was visiting the Land of Sweets, she met characters

from far-‐away lands who each performed short, beautiful dances in her honor.

Spanish Hot Chocolate

Chinese Tea

Arabian Coffee

Russian Peppermint

German Marzipan

French Bon Bons


On the map, identify where each of these countries are. Direct students to do online or

library research about each country. Research could include physical characters of the

country’s landscape, cultural characteristics, and significant cities or region within the

country. As an additional task, research can also be done to reflect two different time

periods, ours (early 21st century), and the time period of The Nutcracker (late 19th/early

20th century). This activity can culminate in a compare and contrast essay or class

presentation.

States of Matter Standards Connection EARL.4-‐5.PS2A

• During some scenes of The Nutcracker, dry ice was used to create stage fog and change the

environment. Have the students recall the scene(s) in which they remember this

production element. During your science lesson do the dry ice experiment found in the

link below or use your own experiment. Discussion questions may include:

o What do you think the dancers felt like moving through the fog?

o Who do you think started the fog machine?

o How do you think the stage crew communicates with each other to start and stop a

production element like the fog?

Link to dry ice experiment:

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/awesome-dry-ice-experiments

nutcrackerteacher study guide - mcb · debra pearse rogo artistic director ! the nutcracker study...

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