To celebrate the holiday season in literature, The duty plunges back into the Christmas tales and legends that have rocked our collective imagination since the 19the century. Second text in a series of three.
The room is plunged into darkness. From the silence suddenly emerge the violins, then the transverse flute; a light and airy melody reminiscent of the ringing of bells, the majestic dance of snowflakes, the light footsteps and the whispers of excited children.
Finally, the curtain opens. On the stage sits a huge fir tree in which shine hundreds of candles and under which rests a mountain of gifts. The magic happens. That’s it, it’s Christmas.
Every year since 1964, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens have presented their version of Nutcracker to the Quebec public, kicking off the holiday season celebrations. This unique tradition makes the story of Clara and her wooden prince one of the emblems of Christmas in Quebec.
But before coming to life on stage, carried by the contrasting tunes of Russian composer Piotr Ilitch Tchaikovsky, Nutcracker and the Mouse King was first a tale, written by Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann and published in Berlin in 1816.
We meet Marie and Fritz Silverhaus, two children who are visited by their uncle Drosselmayer, a watchmaker. The latter offers Marie a nutcracker, and reveals to her that it is not an ordinary doll, since a young man lives inside.
At nightfall, when Marie goes down to the living room to retrieve her toy, she watches a dumbfounded war between the army of the Nutcracker Prince and that of the Mouse King.
When the little girl throws her slipper at the animal and it falls, inert, the puppet regains his humanity and brings him to a fairy kingdom populated by dolls and dragees in which she becomes a woman and marries her prince.
A German tradition
“Hoffmann was inspired by a tradition drawn from a very old Germanic folklore, which is that of offering a nutcracker with the effigy of a soldier who was installed in the windows to repel evil spirits”, says historian Evelyne Ferron.
In Germany, it is said that a rich farmer from the Ore Mountains, embittered and miserly, asked the craftsmen of the village to find a way so that he could easily open the nuts on which he fed exclusively. A toymaker would then have created the first colored nutcracker, which melted the heart of the wicked peasant and made evil flee there.
However, the first models would rather have been born in the Alps of Bavaria, in the 1650s. “The region of Saxony was famous for its silver mines. When there was no more ore, the miners would have started to make nutcrackers in their image, which could be used as figurines to protect the houses. »
If the tale is associated with the holiday season, it is primarily thanks to Alexandre Dumas, whose adaptation, not very faithful to the original, has long remained the best known, and sets the action on Christmas Eve. It was also this version that inspired the directors and choreographers of the ballet, presented for the first time on December 18, 1892 at the Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg.
Since then, adaptations have burst forth in all forms: from the stage to television, via cinema and children’s literature. The wooden characters are now created on the assembly line, and find their place in many Christmas decorations.
A timeless story
The ballet of course has an important role to play in the continuity of the Nutcracker story through the ages. “It’s an ode to the imagination and to childhood, a tradition in which the little ones can participate, since children are chosen each year to dance in the ballet, in Montreal, raises Lucie Papineau, author of the album illustrated Nutcracker (Dominique et compagnie, 1996), a book constantly republished for 25 years. It is both a dream that comes to life on stage before the eyes of the audience, and a dream that comes true for those who take the stage. Everyone participates in the magic, and it creates unforgettable memories. »
Beyond the event, there are other – more symbolic – reasons that could explain the timelessness and popularity of the tale, both with young and old.
“Several Christmas tales exploit the idea that the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, is conducive to the irrational and to dreams, raises the songwriter and storyteller Thomas Hellman. It’s the night of all possibilities. In Nutcracker, the disturbing Count Drosselmeyer holds back the clock hand at midnight, letting Marie/Clara enter a parallel time and universe. Hoffmann thus takes up an idea that has obsessed us since the dawn of time, that of a plunge into darkness that leads to light, of a night where the forces of good triumph over those of evil. »
It is an ode to the imagination and to childhood, a tradition in which the little ones can participate, since children are chosen each year to dance in the ballet, in Montreal Lucie Papineau »
For the artist, who will present his new show mythomaniac. Tales and legends of ancient Greece in February, it is not surprising that the Christian feast associated with the birth of Jesus takes place at the end of the month of December, while many clues suggest that the prophet was rather born in September. “Christ represents the savior born to guide humans through this long night. »
Today, while all religious symbolism is practically evacuated from our conception of Christmas, the spirit behind the holiday is still present, and sought after. “Santa Claus is the irrational par excellence, the impossible that becomes possible, the dream that exists, for one night, in reality. This dream dimension is part of us, and it has a transformative power. The longest night gives us time to dive inside and start a change. Even if we believe in the structures and rules of science, these old stories reassure us, because they remind us that spring and light will return. »