The Sacred Revealed in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker
Swirling snowflakes. Waltzing flowers. Mouse King versus Nutcracker. Our favorite family traditions during the Christmas season include attending at least one production of The Nutcracker and listening to the full score by Tchaikovsky on repeat throughout the holiday season! Each time we see The Nutcracker, we are reminded how this story on the stage points to the overarching meta-narrative of Christmas – God’s divine intervention into human brokenness.
The story opens with Marie at her holiday family gathering which brings to life the beautifully choreographed chaos of humanity in the way that only holiday family gatherings can do. Children are at mischief while parents struggle to wear a smile. There are moments of bliss and wonder contrasted with memories evoking sadness. The natural realm of the party is soon to be blurred with Marie’s supernatural dream world as we meet Godfather Drosselmeier, the clockmaker and toymaker, the obvious God-figure of the story.
Drosselmeier’s character all at once inspires curiosity, respect if not fear, and goodness. He is the creator, the giver, the restorer. Drosselmeier bears many gifts, but the one of utmost significance is the Nutcracker – the God-figure’s gift to his beloved yet undeserving god-daughter. Marie receives the gift and realizes its special significance, but she cannot comprehend the ultimate importance of the gift that she now bears. A tragic moment occurs when Marie’s little brother , Fritz, attempts to destroy the gift in a fit of jealous rage.
Following this, Balanchine creates the key moment of dramatic tension in the story when Marie is separated from Drosselmeier and his nephew at the end of scene 1. The choreography of this scene is emotionally moving as Marie, displaying humanity’s reach, longingly stretches out toward Drosselmeier as he departs to stage right restraining his nephew from Marie, who holds the now-damaged gift that he has given her.
The party is over and the house is quiet. Marie tiptoes into the family room to comfort her broken doll and they drift off to dreamland together on the couch. The pivotal moment comes when Drosselmeier sneaks in to repair the Nutcracker while Marie sleeps. It is this restorative act that sets the stage for Drosselmeier’s nephew, a messianic figure, who is mysteriously and magically reborn in Marie’s dream as a life-size Nutcracker to aid Marie in her battle against the evil Mouseking and his rodent army.
The sacred themes of the Bible come to life on the stage as the battle between good and evil occurs. An army of soldiers file in to fight an army of skittering mice. Cheese “bombs” fly out of cannons to entice the evil forces away. Finally the surprise of a child’s ballet slipper striking the Mouseking to overthrow patriarchy brings victory to everyone! When the Nutcracker, aka Drosselmeier’s nephew, strikes down the Mouseking, takes his crown, and lifts it up in victory, audiences of the ballet have erupted into applause in almost every single production we’ve seen.
Humanity celebrates the destruction of evil and the goodness of the savior.
We want a Savior!
We long for brokenness to be restored! We long for fears to diminish! We long for a world of candy canes and Spanish hot chocolate!!
After this first act of victory, the Nutcracker-turned-Prince crowns his bride, Marie, in a dramatic resolution of the conflict. Marie is at once whisked away by her newfound bridegroom to a land filled with joy. They are greeted by a lady of wisdom, the Sugerplum Fairy, who enters surrounded by angels.
She breathes life into a whole host of heavenly beings who welcome the prince and his princess to their kingdom. The ballet that proceeds is a thrilling representation of the joys of this new paradise. In the end, Marie and her prince must return to their world for now, but George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker succeeds in reminding the audience that a life-changing gift has been given. Creation will ultimately be restored. The battle has already been won, and that the best is yet to come. That gives us hope.
This is the gospel of Jesus Christ. He has given the life-changing gift of eternal life to a broken people to restore us to our Father God, now and into eternity. When Jesus stepped into humanity as a baby born in Bethlehem, the world was in constant battle between good and evil. When Christ died on the cross for the sins of the world, the King of kings overcame death to give mankind victory over sin and death, victory over evil! This is the hope of every Believer, every follower of Christ.
