Mark Morris’s piece “The Hard Nut”, specifically “Waltz of the Snowflakes”, is a satire of The Nutcracker, The Waltz of the Sugar Plum Fairies. Morris succeeds in creating an original updated version that is a little cynical, a little romantic and a little funny all at the same time. His version jumps off the pages of a pastel colored comic book inspired by Charles Burns and really tries to land as far away from “the Box” as possible. But at the same time, still keep the succinct execution of moves and the magic of the original piece by Tchaikovsky. Mark Morris adds his style of challenging traditional gender roles in dance and his choreography of this piece, show case his creativity, imagination, and whimsical attitude toward dance.
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The two dancers move around en pointe and then move in a circular motion around one another. They alternately leap in to the air with their arms raised straight up and do a plie. Upon arriving upstage far left, they are replaced by four “snowflakes” this time. These four dancers start upstage from the far left and then proceed to where the first two dancers started. They move gracefully across the stage with high backward leg extensions while staying en point with the other foot still on the ground. The dancers break up this pattern by large leaps with their legs spilt and knees slightly bent. As they leap they toss snow glitter into the air. After they depart on the far right, down stage, six more snowflakes come out far left upstage and do the same moves but at a faster tempo as the previous dancers. Morris shows his creative vision from the excited state of the dancers, representing a snow flurry. The dancers exit down stage on the far right, and are again replaced my even more dancers. Seven in all this time. The dancers now move in a more in-synced manner with their back leg extensions while staying en point with their right foot. As every move is finished every dancer leaps to the sky, legs and arms fully extended, tossing more snow glitter in to the air. Morris now tries to fill the stage …show more content…
Morris was nominated for a Met for his work in “Waltz of the Snow Flakes” and many cities can’t wait for its return. Because this piece is a nice change of pace from the original piece by Tchaikovsky, Morris’ Waltz has earned it’s place in dance history and his Waltz only seems to become more main stream since its release in 1991. Dance continually changes, grows, and what was once taboo becomes accepted brilliance. Morris’ Waltz exemplifies this, with his use of men in women’s roles and hilarious costumes. Morris’ use of space and seemingly random movement scheme designs of such large numbers of dancers punctuates that brilliance, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats . This piece really is wonderful to witness, and is a great example of how ballet has and will continue to change and
The two dancers move around en pointe and then move in a circular motion around one another. They alternately leap in to the air with their arms raised straight up and do a plie. Upon arriving upstage far left, they are replaced by four “snowflakes” this time. These four dancers start upstage from the far left and then proceed to where the first two dancers started. They move gracefully across the stage with high backward leg extensions while staying en point with the other foot still on the ground. The dancers break up this pattern by large leaps with their legs spilt and knees slightly bent. As they leap they toss snow glitter into the air. After they depart on the far right, down stage, six more snowflakes come out far left upstage and do the same moves but at a faster tempo as the previous dancers. Morris shows his creative vision from the excited state of the dancers, representing a snow flurry. The dancers exit down stage on the far right, and are again replaced my even more dancers. Seven in all this time. The dancers now move in a more in-synced manner with their back leg extensions while staying en point with their right foot. As every move is finished every dancer leaps to the sky, legs and arms fully extended, tossing more snow glitter in to the air. Morris now tries to fill the stage …show more content…
Morris was nominated for a Met for his work in “Waltz of the Snow Flakes” and many cities can’t wait for its return. Because this piece is a nice change of pace from the original piece by Tchaikovsky, Morris’ Waltz has earned it’s place in dance history and his Waltz only seems to become more main stream since its release in 1991. Dance continually changes, grows, and what was once taboo becomes accepted brilliance. Morris’ Waltz exemplifies this, with his use of men in women’s roles and hilarious costumes. Morris’ use of space and seemingly random movement scheme designs of such large numbers of dancers punctuates that brilliance, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats . This piece really is wonderful to witness, and is a great example of how ballet has and will continue to change and