Male in Snow?

[Guest DancingBoi]

I just found out tonight that I would be dancing Snow. I was under the impression that Snow was an all girl group?

[Guest tdancer]

is it a pas de deux?? i'v done a snow pas before

[Guest DancingBoi]

I'm not sure, I was just informed that I would be working on Snow. However, I would assume it might be a pas de deux. Okay I think that solves the mystery Thanks!

[Mel Johnson]

The Snow Queen/King shtick started with Anna Pavlova. One of the numbers she and her partner-of-the-moment would do on the tours that she and her company made was set to the transition music that follows the Battle with the Mice that begins the "magic" part of the show. I believe that the first "Snow King" was Laurent Novikoff. Some companies keep the part in because it eats up time, and they cannot support a full-stage set change for which the music was originally written. The Joffrey production of the scene add "winds" to the snowflakes. These are men dancing in the snow scene.

[citibob]

A few years ago, our Snow King was replaced by four Snow Princes. Men have appeared in various productions in just about every Nutcracker dance --- including the Waltz of the Flowers. Most companies don't have enough men to put them in everywhere it's possible.

[Guest DancingBoi]

This is rather interesting! The production of Nutcracker I saw, on television, was the version with they boy from the Home Alone movies.

[MJ]

Macauly Culkin (SP?) was in the Mr. B's Nutz. The film looks like it was filmed on a stage.

I've seen Nutz with a snow king and queen. Typically the same couple as who perform the Coda.

 

MJ

[glebb]

In addition to the Snow Winds who carry the Snow Flakes (and dance on their own), the Joffrey Nutcracker has Clara dream that her mother and father are the Snow Queen and Snow King. Claras brother Fritz becomes the Snow Prince. He is kind of like Jack Frost. Snow Prince is a virtuoso role with a la second turns and double inside saut de basque. Calvin Kitten and Masayoshi Onuki are spectacular in the role.

[Mel Johnson]

Right about Macaulay Culkin as the Nutcracker Prince. He had been a student at the School of American Ballet for awhile, but didn't really look comfortable doing the mime that a real ballet student would have been very able to do.

[Hans]

He had been a student at the School of American Ballet for awhile, but didn't really look comfortable doing the mime that a real ballet student would have been very able to do.

 

Where does one go about finding a real ballet student these days? Are there any left?

 

I actually read that the NYCB Nutcracker was not filmed on a stage, but am not sure exactly where it was filmed.

 

In the Vainonen Nutcracker, the Nutcracker-Prince and Marie dance the snow pas de deux as well as throughout the Dance of the Snowflakes.

[Mel Johnson]

Actually, I think it was filmed on a sound stage, which is not the same thing as a stage, but at least there's a lot of room!

[gbna]

My son was scheduled to be snow king this year until he moved to his new school. He has also been in Russian, Arabian, and Spanish. We also had a male doll last year. The only section I have not seen men in is chinese

[Treefrog]

There again, the Joffrey has both a male and a female Chinese dancer. Always ahead of the curve!

[Hans]

I danced in Chinese once . In the Vainonen (not the version I danced), Chinese is danced by a man and a woman.

[Paul Parish]

Lew Christensen's Snow scene for SanFrancisco Ballet has a Snow King and Queen -- The dance for the snowflakes which follows is maybe his best choreography ever, really wonderful -- and the Snow pas is very fine. not sure how much it's been adapted under Helgi Tomasson, though I hear from old-timers that there used to be more lifts (which for some reason are called "bombers" -- spectacular overhead press lifts, with her leg in ecarte, lower leg in passe. The Snow King gets quite a work-out, rushing her half-way across the stage in each of these, and there are still quite a few. There's some lovely supported work, an allegro masquerading as an adage, finger turns where she's on high half-toe with a bent knee -- it's very very pretty. ANd quite a lot of the work goes into concealing the effort.