February in Zagreb - The Nutcracker - A Magnificent Christmas Tale.

Zagreb's Museum of Arts and Crafts was the venue for an exhibition entitled The Nutcracker - A Magnificent Christmas Tale, a collection of set designs, drawings, photographs, props, jewellery and dance costumes which ran from November last year  until 23rd February 2017. There was also a display of wooden dolls, on loan from private collection.  This exhibition tells the story of this famous ballet which had its premier in the Marinsky Theatre of St. Petersburg on December 18th 1892.  It is still a very popular ballet which is performed at Christmas time in many countries. The ballet was developed from the classic childrens' story by E.T.A. Hoffman about two bickering siblings, Misha and Marie who end up in the palace of the Sugar Plum Fairy.  Tchaikovsky created the musical score for the ballet.
The creators of the exhibition were Vesna Ledic [author and project manager], Arijana Koprcina [author and curator] and Sasa Sekoranja [exhibition designer].  Integral to this exhibition was the loan from both the Berlin State Ballet of elements of their 2013 production of The Nutcracker which was a true to life reconstruction of the original show from 1892 and the costumes given on loan from the Teatro alla Sclla of Milan from 1969 production.  This is highly significant as this show was choreographed by the famous Russian dancer, Rudolf Nureyev who played the role of Drosselmeyer The fabulously elaborate and exotic costumes for this production were designed by Greek artist, Nicholas Georgiadis and are  veritable works of art.
Also featured in this extensive exhibition was a collection of costumes work by the prima ballerina of the London Festival Ballet [later renamed as the English National Ballet], Belinda Wright.  Her costumes were bequeathed after her death in 2007 to her dance and life partner, Jelko Yuresha, a Croatian by birth.
Another facet of this superb exhibition is the history of performances of the Nutcracker in the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.  The first performance took place in 1931 under the original Russian title, Scelkunscik and choreographed by Margareta Froman.  The ballet returned to Zagreb in 1970, directed by Waczlaw Orlykowski and was subsequently performed in 1974, 1984, 2004 and 2011.

 

 

 The images above show some of the original posters from the first performances in 1931 with the Russian title of Scelkunscik along with displays of other historical data, photographs relating to the history of the ballet.  A christmas tree was dressed with decorations found during the time of the first production in 1982.  Much of this material was sourced from the archives of the Institute for the history of Croatian Literature, Theatre and Music.

 

 Some props for the ballet.

Costumes and props.

 Displays of the intricate and elaborate tiaras and  headgear worn by the dancers.


These drawings  - The Snowflakes - are the work of Pavel Froman, set designer for the 1931 production of the Nutcracker in Zagreb.

The Castle - created by set designer, Pavel Froman in 1931.

 

Various displays of costumes but the most extraordinary one is
the one directly above made for Nureyev in the role of
Drosselmeyer by Greek artist, Nicholas Georgiadis.

 

The above costumes are part of the ensemble for the 2013 production of the Nutcracker ballet by the Berlin
State Ballet,  with the centrepiece - The Snowflake - which was designed by Tatiana Noginova.

 

More drawings of designs for the 1931 production by Pavel Froman.

 

Another facet to this exhibition was the display of small sculptural pieces made by school children
depicting their intrpretations of the ballet and its characters and
costumes.

Finally, the exhibition of a large collection of wooden dolls, on loan from a private collector,
added an extra dimension to this really fascinating and wide-ranging exhibition.  There was something quite eerie
and disconcerting about  the figures in this display.  Vaguely reminiscent of the Secret house of Horrors.