Lexie

Thanks!

I have always wondered if there is a wider significance to Harlequin and Columbine in Act I of the Nutcracker. The original Hoffmann story does not seem to give specific details of the dolls at the party (he does seem to have a love of mechanical dolls...) so I wondered if they have their own story, like Princess florine and the Bluebird in Sleeping Beauty or represent something in particular?

In the royal Ballet Version I am used to, Violente is described as 'Fairy of Passion' but the electricity theory explains the pointing.

The Breadcrumb Fairy is described as 'Fairy of Generosity', and the gold 'fairy' in the last act is played by a male.

By the way, I wonder if the names "Carabosse", "Aurore", "Désiré", etc. were created by Petipa, because in Perrault's tale, none of the characters have names (except the two children of the princess and the prince, who are in the second part of the tale- which was not used for the ballet-, they were called "Aurore" and "Jour", i.e. "Dawn" and "Day".

I'm not sure if Petipa created them, or why the child Aurore's name was given to what, in Perault's version, was her Mother, the Aurora we know from the ballet, but 'Desire' [apologies for the lack of accents, the codes don't work on my laptop] is a reference to Louis XIV, as it is said his Father, Louis XIII desperately needed an heir to keep his unstable brother off the throne, so when Louis XIV was finally born, he was known as 'the desired one' for this reason and also for his personality in later life.

There are many references to Louis XIV's court in The Sleeping Beauty, such as the choreography, as the court is set out based on rank and ceremony, as in the days of Louis XIV, and Carabosse's courtesans mock this etiquette in the Prologue, leaping around and removing Cattalabutte's wig, whic many, if not all coutesans, would have worn at this time.

I cannot find an origin of 'Carabosse' but I did come across another mythic story, with a similar plot to the tempest, which involves an evil character called Carabosse, so I suppose it has been associated with evil for a long time.

I'm not sure about on here, as this is only my second post, but Wikipedia is quite useful as it has a list of the score in the original format and lists variations that are usually omitted.

On the credits of an early 90's Royal Ballet production, the names are given as:

Candide - Fairy of Purity

Coulante - Fairy of vitality

The Breadcrumb Fairy - Fairy of Generosity

Canary - Fairy of Eloquence

Violente - Fairy of Passion

The Lilac Fairy - Fairy of wisdom

and of course, Carabosse.

These seem to be pretty much in accordance with the various names from rg's scan, but easier for the audience to understand than the original names?