EPP writing Presents The Nutcracker

Please follow the link and listen to the transcript. Then write the
definitions to the highlighted words youre your ex. Book.
http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/who-wrote-the-nutcracker Make sure to
watch the three minutes video.
When December rolls around each year, many people look forward tocele
b rating the winter holidays in a wide variety of ways. For manypeople, ther
e are certain holiday traditions that they maintain year inand year out.
For example, many people look forward to attending a famous ballet thatt
e lls the fairy tale story of a young girl and her favorite Christmas toy, which
c omes to life, defeats the Mouse King, and takes her away to a magical lan
d where she meets the Sugar Plum fairy. What are we talking about? TheN
u tcracker, of course!
Today, The Nutcracker is considered the most popular ballet to be perfor
m edduring the winter holidays. In fact, some consider it the most popular ba
llet in the world. Despite its popularity, not many people know its interestinghistory.
The Nutcracker did not start out as a ballet. Instead, it was originally a storywritten in 1816 by
Prussian author E.T.A. Hoffmann. His original story, calledThe Nutcracker and the Mouse King,
was a bit darker and scarier than the storytold in the modern ballet.
The Nutcracker ballet was actually based upon an adaptation of Hoffmann'soriginal story writte
n by French author Alexandre Dumas. Dumas' adaptationwas lighter and less scary than Hoff
mann's original version.
In 1891, Ivan Vsevolozhsky, director of Moscow's Imperial Theaters,commissioned a ballet to b
e produced based upon Dumas' adaptation ofHoffmann's story. The ballet premiered a week b
efore Christmas in 1892.
The ballet's dances were choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov.Even more than the
dances, The Nutcracker is famous for its music composedby Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Although the ballet did not enjoy great success initially, Tchaikovsky's musicfor the ballet has b
ecome one of his most famous works. The NutcrackerSuite, a selection of eight of the more po
pular pieces from the ballet, is aninstantly-recognizable holiday classic enjoyed by millions eve
ry year.
The Nutcracker was not popular outside of Russia for many years. For example,its first United
States performance did not come until 1944 in San Francisco.Its popularity didn't soar until afte
r its New York City performance became a hit in the 1950s.

Variety: the state of being varied or diversified

Maintain: To keep something up with the standard
Famous: To be known by many people
Tale: Is something that is told, not real
Fairy: A little angle that has many magic powers
Ballet: A type of dance
World: The sum of many countries on earth
Consider: To make a decision for something
Popularity: How much of the population
Modern: A new version of something
Adaption: An action when something or someone gets used to it or agrees on something or
somewhere
Recognize: An action of understanding and agreeing on something
Interesting History: Means the history is interesting
Commissioned: to give an order for or authorize the production