Many ballet companies around the world traditionally perform a family ballet at Christmas. In England the Royal Ballet traditionally perform Tchaikovsky’s ‘The Nutcracker’ at Covent Garden each Christmas/New Year. The Nut Cracker is a tale of a young girl called Clara who creeps downstairs on Christmas Eve to look at her presents. However, the Christmas tree magically grows and a soldier in the shape of a nutcracker comes to Clara’s aid against the Mouse King.
The full story can be found here
In many towns and village halls another traditional family Christmas treat is the Pantomime or ‘Panto’ for short. Originally from the Greek word pantomimes, where a solo dancer mimed and was accompanied by spoken narrative and sometimes with flute music also. This ancient Greek entertainment spread to Rome and was mentioned by the Greek orator Aelius Aristides who lived in the 1st century AD. Modern day British Pantomime has its music and dance roots in Commedia Dell’Arte, which is an Italian based play that reached England in the 16th century. The travelling actors told stories and improvised common situations. The a clown called Joseph Grimaldi (1778 – 1837) added standard characters, fathers, illicit lovers and servants and the basic characters of the modern pantomime were born. Originally small pieces performed between opera pieces, pantomime eventually grew to a show in its own right. The pantomime dame (man dressed as a woman) first appeared in the 1880’s when a comedian called Dan Leno introduced the character.
Whether watching or taking part we hope you have an enjoyable pantomime season this year.
For full information see here