Since 1964, attending the ballet has been a holiday ritual for many Quebecers every year Nutcracker the Grands Ballets Canadiens on the stages of the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier at Place des Arts.
This fantastic story, in which colorful costumes adorn majestic dancers parading to captivating music, has now become part of our imagination and the magic of Christmas. This is how this legendary ballet became a must-see in Quebec…
The roots of history Nutcracker
Based on a German story by Ernst TA Hoffmann entitled “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” and subsequently adapted by Alexandre Dumas père, the Nutcracker Ballet was performed for the first time in Russia in 1892 at a theater in Saint Petersburg. Since then it has toured around the world and become a Christmas classic in many countries. The famous music was composed by Tchaikovsky and several renowned choreographers such as George Balanchine and Maurice Béjart have appropriated the work over the years to provide their own versions.
This ballet essentially tells the story of little Clara (Marie in Hoffmann's version), who receives a small wooden soldier (a nutcracker) as a gift on Christmas Eve. At night, while everyone is sleeping, Clara looks for her nutcracker in the living room and falls asleep next to it, not knowing that her night will be anything but ordinary! While he sleeps, his wooden soldier comes to life and transforms into a fairytale prince who fights against the Mouse King. After his victory, he takes Clara to an enchanted kingdom where fantastic characters and dancers follow each other.
This story fulfills people's need for wonder while embodying the centuries-old battle between good and evil – all in a warm, wintry Christmas atmosphere. This undoubtedly explains the success of this ballet year after year.
Fernand Nault and “Madame” Chiriaeff
In Quebec, The Nutcracker was presented for the first time thanks to the support of two people who had a profound influence on the beginnings of classical dance here: Ludmilla Chiriaeff (1924-1996) and Fernand Nault (1920-2006).
Ludmilla Chiriaeff is of Latvian origin and founder of the Chiriaeff Ballet, which became the Grands Ballets Canadiens in 1957. In the early 1960s, the woman respectfully known as “Madame” in the dance world was looking for a local choreographer to perform ballets, publicize and support her young company of professional dancers.
Ludmilla Chiriaeff is of Latvian origin and founder of the Grands Ballets Canadiens and a key figure in the institutionalization of classical dance in Quebec. At his request, Fernand Nault returned to Montreal and choreographed The Nutcracker. Great Canadian ballets
She found her ideal candidate in the person of Fernand Nault, a character whose life deserves to be told in a biography! The latter, born in Montreal in the Faubourg à m'lasse, was a great dancer and choreographer who worked for the American Ballet Theater in New York in the early 1960s.
At Chiriaeff's request, he returned to Montreal in 1964 to choreograph the ballet The Nutcracker. It was the beginning of a great adventure between Fernand Nault and the Grands Ballets Canadiens. Nault subsequently choreographed several ballets for the company and contributed to the institutionalization of dance in Quebec.
Since that founding moment, The Nutcracker has been presented every year at the Place des Arts, helping to capture the imagination and brighten the Christmas season of thousands of young and old…
Dancer and choreographer Fernand Nault is the one who choreographed “The Nutcracker,” which has been performed every year at Place des Arts since 1964. You can find an overview of the work of this dance pioneer on the Fernand Choreographic Fund Nault website. Great Canadian ballets