Mark Morris Dance Group: The Hard Nut (part 1)

Mark Morris Dance Group

[@phil2b1310]

Thank you so much for posting this Masterpiece. I was props maker & props man on stage for the "Première" of this fabulous show at the TRM (Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie) in Brussels 31 years ago. A lot of fine work for us on that production (hahaha, the snow, millions of white confetti..., the radio-controlled rats, and the gift wrappings to be redone every day). What a fabulous memory. I just stumbled upon this video by chance and couldn't help but watch till the end. Wow. I couldn't hold back my tears... Love MMDG

[@gwindematteo934]

I had the supreme honor of working wardrobe on this production at Cal Performances at Zellerbach Hall back in the mid 90's. STILL one of my favorite gigs and favorite shows. Mark Morris ROCKS!

[@jamiecherry4407]

when we lived in the Bay Area we went to Zellerbach every time the Hard Nut came to town!

[@platedlizard]

We watched this a million times when I was a kid & it’s the reason I love ballet lol

[@cherylceder]

I saw this on tv years ago, while I had the flu. I thought I imagined it, because nobody heard of it, and let's face it, it a little unusual. It's fantastic!

[@willbuckner2361]

The Hard Nut is, by far, my favorite setting of The Nutcracker. From the incredible Pas de Deux (31:00) between Drosselmeyer and his Nutcracker to the dances of the Snowflakes and Flowers to the Lichtenstein '60s era comics style, and gender fluidity, everything is so right about this production. Mark Morris is brilliant!

[@reginamcgraw]

THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS....MAGIC!!!

[@tomkim1017]

Visually stunning. How Mark Morris captures all the nuance and whimsy of the music into human motion is beyond words

[@Victor1930]

Recorded this on VHS years ago when it was on PBS. So glad to find it again. A quirky classic! Thanks for posting.

[@troygaspard6732]

Lucky to have seen this at CAL Performances. I love how it opens, how he melds 70's dance moves into the house party dance.

[@darkenergyhotep5793]

This is the version I raised my children on LOVE IT!!!! Merry Christmas to all! Peace

[@newtdailyvlog]

This is my favorite nutcracker I wish it was available for streaming

[@jessied44]

Thank you. I went hopefully hunting for this for friends this morning. Glad to find it today.

[@mrskamran]

Thank you for posting! This is such a unique, intelligent version, and difficult to find! Love it!

[@anniebale4343]

While not all the humor hits for me, I will say this is very fun, and the telling of Drosselmeyer's travels all around the globe to find the Krakatuk nut for Princess Pirlipat is a very refreshing spin on the classic ballet, since pretty much every single adaptation completely neglects to show the context for why the nutcracker nephew and the mouse king are fighting to begin with, which in my opinion takes away the tragedy of what happened. Overall, this is rather enjoyable, and I'm glad I gave it a watch, but I likely won't pick it up again unless my friends want to see it.

[@paulinegallagher1675]

THANK YOU SO MUCH! I love this. So hard to find now. Bless you! We are all in your debt.

[@photographeaignan8885]

Un grand merci à vous Karl, pour les raisons suivantes j'aime cette musique, ce ballet magique mais surtout j'y étais en tant que responsable pour la climatisation de la salle lors de tous les spectacles la très bonne époque Sylvain Cambrelin et Gérard Mortier. J'étais aux services du Théâtre de 1987 à 1990 et j'ai également figuré dans Boris Goudonov et Elektra. MERCI encore Jean de Sterck.

[@INOBT100]

Personally I don't like modern ballet, but Morris's "Nutcracker" is important to see cause no one's ever bothered to touch Hoffmann's original story the way he did

[@ouiouibaguette7887]

clara is soooo adorable!

[@maghalegamble7061]

weird interpretation. Love it!

[@levicopp3224]

Who else but Morris could re-interpret the original Imperial Era ballet like this! Adults behaving badly ( not to speak of rather vampish adolescent ) A nice twist in the original " grandfather dance" That there was only a trolley of hard drinks to consume added a slightly depressing yet humorous dimension to the first act. 😉 Japes and jests, frolics and antics

[@katiehickey4539]

Well I must admit it's not so bad at all for a different and strange new kind of Nutcracker Ballet.

[@attwx]

My most favorite version of "The Nutcracker" of all time. At 35:45 The Dance of the Snowflakes cracks me up every time

[@Touhou-j8g]

Aaaaa the dust at 32:53 makes me cry...

[@CaptainBlackBread]

Lil' Hard Nut is my Soundcloud rap name.

[@lumpyeuphoria5688]

Very Euphoric

[@katiehickey4539]

Maybe if the Party Guests wore Different Winter Holiday Clothes, if the Angels and Cherubs wore Different Religious Clothes, and if the Toy Soldiers wore Different Military Clothes.

[@katiehickey4539]

Well at least we know where the 1st Performance of The Hard Nut Ballet took place, but what year was the Hard Nut Comic Book first published? And where did the Pantomime of the Hard Nut first take place?

[@scratchy45s23]

the young woman who plays the main character (Clara?) is very cute in her part

[@JoshFreilich]

Her name is "Marie" in this adaptation.

[@katiehickey4539]

Though maybe if the Family in The Hard Nut Ballet were Mr. and Mrs. Silberhaus, Louise, Fritz, and Marie while the Family in The Nutcracker Ballet were Mr. and Mrs. Stahlbaum, Louise, Fredrick, and Clara.

[@christinawilliams3746]

I got no tingles like the orig ballet version but love this one in a retro, stylish pulp fiction glam kinda Breakfast at Tiffany's sorta way! Also B-52's, Stray Cat Strut, U2 Bono, Marilyn Monroe Doris Day Blondie theme, Across the Universe Beatles reference and love the Elvis Nutcracker, Johnny Depp CPT Jack Sparrow pirate artsy eye patch (Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, CPT Hook ref & Hook mvy rip Robin Williams), My Fair Lady, The Help, Pretty in Pink, Steel Magnolias, as well as the space robot android Star Wars reference, like a kind of Forrest Gump integration party, also Ziggy Stardust rip David Bowie with Dirty Dancing Patrick Swayze rip flair. Bravo! Rocketman, Evita, Sir Elton John, Madonna (Die Another Day) Piers Brosnan, Mama Mia, Meryl Streep, Golden Compass Nicole Kidman, Ian McKellen, too! Needs LED rainbow tutu's in dark lit scenes for tingles. Nutcracker's dance partner looks a little like Freddie Mercury rip. What if Cats musical mash-up helped Marie? Lol (Maria West Side Story ref). Also love the Angelina Ballerina mice and cat in lap & pink bassinet! Phantom Past the Point of no return red devil Latin salsa dance is nice! So are long nailed male & female Asian dancers! Twilight Zone, Beetlejuice references are cool too! Willie Wonka violet large flower motif & dancing flowers Alice in Wonderland motif +Ghost/Scrooge! Bravissimo!!! Chubby Checker, Aretha Franklin rip The Blues Bro, The Twist, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang purple clothes adults reference! Russian colorful dresses and dance are flamboyant! Grease, Sound of Music, The Munsters, Jerry Lee Lewis, Addam's Family, Stardust (Claire Danes, Ian McKellen, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert Dinero), The Shining (Jack Nicholson, Stephen King), Snow Queen Narnia, Nightmare Before Christmas, Shrek, Xanadu, Wizard of Oz Ref's to boot! Amazing! Also the Mixed Nuts Steve Martin, Rita Wilson, Madeline Khan, Liev Schreiber, Adam Sandler, Rob Reiner, Juliette Lewis Robert Klein, Anthony LaPaglia, Nora Ephron. This is the pinnacle of a Cult classic musical!!! Here's my 13yo dancing to the Snowflake dance in LED tutu kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZucZ2t6ocynqJY and this just gave me the idea she needs to be in same tutu & leotard in her ballet shoes dancing Fortnite Electro Shuffle to Xanadu like before she started taking ballet lessons at age 12 at Crosby Miller School kzbin.info/www/bejne/eoawlHmumNCDjNE

[@TheRichie63]

A simply divine and quirky version and truly one of my favorites. Though I think the men in the snowflake scene were enjoying wearing the tou-tou's a little bit too much. lol

[@luigigargarelli8480]

È la nuova interpretazione nello stile americano di Schiaccianoci, diversa da quella del 1977 in cui ballo 'il grande Mikel Barysnikov, ma la coreografia rispecchia l ' originalità della storia con meno tecnica classica, ma tanta interpretazione e colore nella scelta dei costumi. I miei complimenti vivissimi Maestro Luigi Gargarelli della WDC World Dancing Coencil di Londra Tess. n. 1600 - ITA INTERNATIONAL DANCING TEACHER PRESSO LA WDC WORLD DANCING COENCIL DI LONDRA.

[@drkcurve8236]

Me at the person who just keeps coughing 😒

[@anyahathaway9613]

This is probably banned in Florida.

[@KarlSkellenger]

The Democrats are anti 1st amendment or they would support Matt Taibbi not persecute him. The covid vaccine is poison they got that right in Florida too

[@m.x.b.9949]

Does anyone known when this was first performed/created?

[@phil2b1310]

January 12 1991 was the very first "Première" at the TRM (Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie) in Brussels where Mark Morris was in residence. I was props maker & props man on stage for this Masterpiece. The video must have been made later that year (on November at the TRM) because some dancers here were not on the very first line-up and I wasn't there anymore (on tour in Salzburg with an opera).

[@maghalegamble7061]

When are you going to start making videos. Would like to see what's on your mind nowadays...lol

[@manga12]

is the rat king wearing leather pointe shoes they look shinier then normal satin

[@lurking0death]

It's a 5 second joke stretched into a full length Ballet. Doesn't work for me. I am not Pee Wee Herman.

[@BytomGirl]

Poor Tchaikovsky and Petipa are turning in their graves

[@KarlSkellenger]

The original nutcracker is one of the most boring ballets ever. To my mind this is far more entertaining with modern dance choreography by one of our greatest living Masters.

[@KarlSkellenger]

@@BytomGirl this is a reinvention of a century old production. It was not meant to be true to the original

[@platedlizard]

It’s “The Nutcracker” for me. The straight versions are very boring.