Amy Reusch Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 I understand that that they are Cake Flowers, in keeping with the rest of the dessert treats... but what is the ethnicity? (or are they like Sugarplum, whom I assume has no ethnicity but reigns over them all... sugar on high so to speak? Lately been wondering if they are Viennese? White cake flowers ~ debutantes at a ball? Is a Viennese waltz different musically from a regular waltz? Just wondering... wandering... ... the season is coming nigh... Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Let's not overthink this! Late nineteenth century waltzes, whether Viennese, French or Russian were fast waltzes, beaten "in one" rather than the valses lentes of the early nineteenth, which were, by the Imperial period, being called "polka mazurkas" even though a mazurka step was nowhere to be seen. Link to comment
rg Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 the original color scheme for the valse des fleurs was gold and included couples, 36 in number. it was intended for the first production (a Vsevolozhsky costume sketch notes "Grand Balabile"and shows a couple linked by a garland, if mem. serves, the number was meant to recapture the success of the Valse Villageoise, the so-called "garland dance" from the 1890 SLEEPING BEAUTY. Link to comment
cubanmiamiboy Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 the original color scheme for the valse des fleurs was gold and included couples, 36 in number. it was intended for the first production (a Vsevolozhsky costume sketch notes "Grand Balabile"and shows a couple linked by a garland, if mem. serves, the number was meant to recapture the success of the Valse Villageoise, the so-called "garland dance" from the 1890 SLEEPING BEAUTY. Here they are...also from rg, of course...! Link to comment
Amy Reusch Posted November 1, 2010 Author Share Posted November 1, 2010 Hmmm... can't say there's anything there reminiscent of frosting or a Viennese ball..... oh well... seemed a good way to tie it all together. 36 Couples? Wow... that's a lot! Or was it 18 couples? Link to comment
rg Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 Mel's suggesting one not 'overthink' such things is something that would be wisely practiced by many NUTCRACKER producers nowadays who work overtime and worse to 'explain' and give 'logic' to everything in the ballet - as i believe Balanchine once said, simply: 'it's magic!' - it's not reality - a related thought was expressed today in NYC at a performance of the 500-year-old theatrical art known as Kunqu; a speaker for the art suggested that it stressed magic, not realism. Link to comment
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