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Kate Crackernuts" (or "Katie Crackernuts") is a Scottish fairy tale collected by Andrew Lang in the Orkney Islands and published in Longman's Magazine in 1889. Joseph Jacobs edited and republished the tale in his English Fairy Tales (1890)

A king had a daughter named Anne, and his queen had a daughter named Kate, who was less beautiful. (Jacobs' notes reveal that in the original story both girls were called Kate and that he had changed one's name to Anne.) The queen was jealous of Anne, but Kate loved her. The queen consulted with a henwife to ruin Anne's beauty, and after three tries, they enchanted Anne's head into a sheep's head. Kate wrapped Anne's head in a cloth, and they went out to seek their fortunes.

They found a castle where the king had two sons, one of whom was sickening, and whoever watched him by night vanished. Kate asked for shelter for herself and her "sick" sister, and offered to watch. At midnight, the sick prince rose and rode off. Kate sneaked onto his horse and collected nuts as they rode through the woods. A green hill where the fairies were dancing opened to receive the prince, and Kate rode in with him unnoticed. The second night is p***ed as the first but Kate found a fairy baby in the hill. It played with a wand, and she heard fairies say that three strokes of the wand would cure Anne. So she rolled nuts to distract the baby and get the wand, then cured her sister.

The third night, Kate said she would stay only if she could marry the prince, and that night, the baby played with a bird, three bites of which would cure the sick prince. She distracted the baby with the nuts again to get it. As soon as they returned to the castle, she cooked it, and the prince was cured by eating it. Meanwhile, his brother had seen Anne and fell in love with her, so they all married — the sick brother to the well sister, and the well brother to the sick sister.

 

 

Anna, a fearless optimist, sets off on an epic journey - teaming up with rugged mountain man Kristoff and his loyal reindeer Sven - to find her sister Elsa, whose icy powers have trapped the kingdom of Arendelle in eternal winter. Encountering Everest-like conditions, mystical trolls and a hilarious snowman named Olaf, Anna and Kristoff battle the elements in a race to save the kingdom. From the outside Anna's sister, Elsa looks poised, regal and reserved, but in reality, she lives in fear as she wrestles with a mighty secret-she was born with the power to create ice and snow. It's a beautiful ability, but also extremely dangerous. Haunted by the moment her magic nearly killed her younger sister Anna, Elsa has isolated herself, spending every waking minute trying to suppress her growing powers. Her mounting emotions trigger the magic, accidentally setting off an eternal winter that she can't stop. She fears she's becoming a monster and that no one, not even her sister, can help her.

 

The story of Swan Lake

takes place in the haunted castle

Act I

A courtyard in the castle

Following his father's death, Prince Siegfried is to be crowned king and must therefore marry. He dreads the loss of his freedom and has no wish to choose a bride he does not love. It is the night of his 21st birthday and his friends at court have ***embled to present him with the gift of a crossbow. His equerry and friend, Benno, has arranged an entertainment to divert him, but in the middle of these celebrations the Queen Mother arrives, unannounced. She is shocked at the revelry while the court is still officially in mourning and reminds Siegfried that the following day he must choose a bride. She departs leaving Siegfried despondent. Benno attempts to cheer him with the help of two girls and the men then join in a drinking dance to toast the future king. When the dancers have gone, a flight of swans p***es and Benno suggests that Siegfried try out his new crossbow. They depart in pursuit.

Act II

The lakeside by moonlight

On arrival at the lakeside Prince Siegfried sends Benno in search of the swans. Left alone he becomes aware of an evil presence - the magician Baron von Rothbart. Suddenly a swan approaches, and Siegfried watches in amazement as it is trans ed into a beautiful maiden. She is Princess Odette. She and her companions have been turned into swans by Baron von Rothbart and only at night can they return to human . Odette's enchantment can be broken only if someone who has never loved before swears an oath of undying love and promises to marry her. Prince Siegfried declares his love and swears to be true for eternity. When von Rothbart appears Prince Siegfried attempts to sh00t him, but Odette intercedes explaining that if the magician dies the spell can never be broken. She warns him that if he breaks his vow of love she must remain a swan forever. Dawn approaches. Odette and her companions return to the lake and resume their guise as swans.

Act III (recreated)

The ballroom of the castle

At a grand reception Prince Siegfried must choose his bride from three princesses. They each dance for him but his thoughts are elsewhere and he refuses to make a choice. A fanfare announces the arrival of two univited guests; they are von Rothbart, disguised as an amb***ador, and his daughter Odile, whom the sorcerer has transfigured to look like Odette. The Prince is taken in by the unknown visitors startling resemblance to Odette and belives her to be the Swan Princess. While Odile and the Prince dance together a vision of Odette appears beseeching Siegfried to remember his vow, but his attention is distracted by the magician's spell. Infatuated, Siegfried asks for Odile's hand in marriage. Von Rothbart makes him swear his love for her and as Siegfried does so, Odette appears at the window. It is too late, he has pledged his word to another. The court is thrown into confusion and, in despair, the Prince rushes out in search of his love.

Act IV

The lakeside

Odette returns to the swan-maidens, distraught and wishing to drown herself in the water of the lake while she is still in human . Realising Siegfried is following her, von Rothbart creates a storm in a vain attempt to stop him. Siegfried arrives and begs Odette's forgiveness. Sadly, she tells him that she forgives him but nothing can change the fact that his vow was broken. Odette and Siegfried decide they cannot live apart and will die together. Odette throws herself into the lake and von Rothbart is thwarted in his attempt to stop Siegfried following her. Dawn breaks. The lovers are united in death and eternal love.

PETER WRIGHT

                                         

The Story of The Nutcracker (takes place in the enchanted Forest)

Act I

The curtain opens to reveal the Stahlbaums' house, where a Christmas Eve party is under way. Clara, her little brother Fritz, and their mother and father are celebrating with friends and family, when Clara's mysterious godfather, Herr Drosselmeyer, (affectionately known as "Uncle") enters. He quickly produces a large bag of gifts for all the children. All are very happy, except for Clara, who has yet to be presented a gift. 

Herr Drosselmeyer has brought to the party three life-size dolls, which each take a turn to dance. When the dances are done, Clara approaches Herr Drosselmeyer asking for her gift. It would seem that he is out of presents, and Clara, in some productions, runs to her mother in a fit of tears and disappointment. In others, she is still quite happy; in Baryshnikov's production, she gently hints to Drosselmeyer that she would like a toy.

Drosselmeyer then produces a Nutcracker, in the traditional shape of a soldier in full parade uni . The other children reject it, so he gives it to Clara. Clara is overjoyed, but her brother Fritz is jealous, and breaks the Nutcracker.

As the party ends, the Stahlbaum family go to bed. (In the Balanchine version, while everybody is sleeping, Herr Drosselmeyer repairs the Nutcracker, but in most productions, he simply binds it with a handkerchief during the Christmas party.)

After everyone is asleep, Clara creeps downstairs to have a look at her beloved Nutcracker. When the clock strikes midnight, she hears the sound of mice. She wakes up (or is she still dreaming?) and tries to run away, but the mice stop her. In most productions, the Christmas tree suddenly begins to grow to enormous size, filling the room. The Nutcracker comes to life, he and his band of soldiers rise to defend Clara, and the Mouse King leads his mice into battle. Here Tchaikovsky continues the miniature effect of the Overture, setting the battle music predominantly in the orchestra's upper registers.

A conflict ensues, and when Clara helps the Nutcracker by throwing her shoe at the Mouse King, the Nutcracker seizes his opportunity and stabs him. The mouse dies. (In some productions, she merely grabs the Mouse King by the tail, and in others Clara kills the Mouse King when she throws her slipper at him.) The mice retreat, taking their dead leader with them. The Nutcracker is then transfigured into a prince. (In Hoffmann's original story, and in Peter Wright's Royal Ballet 1985 version, the Prince is actually Drosselmeyer's nephew, who had been turned into a Nutcracker by the Mouse King, and all of the events following the Christmas party have been arranged by Drosselmeyer in order to break the spell.)

Clara and the Prince travel to a world where dancing Snowflakes greet them and fairies and queens dance, welcoming Clara and the Prince into their world. This sequence is frequently called either Journey Through the Snow or A Pine Forest in Winter. In many productions, the Snow King and Queen do not appear and dance this sequence, and it is Clara and the Prince who dance it. The score conveys the wondrous images by introducing a wordless children's chorus during the Waltz of the Snowflakes, which is danced by snowflakes transfigured into humans. The curtain falls on Act I.

Act II

Clara and the Prince arrive at the Kingdom of Sweets, ruled by the Sugar Plum Fairy. The Fairy and the people of the Kingdom of Sweets perf0rm  several dances for Clara and the Prince - a Spanish Dance, a Chinese Dance, an Arabian Dance, a Russian Dance, the Dance of the Clowns, the Dance of the Reed Flutes, the Waltz of the Flowers, and the Grand Pas de Deux, which includes the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (shown in En***d Forest). 

 

After the Grand Pas de Deux, everyone dances a joyous Final Waltz, and then the ballet usually ends with Clara waking up under the Christmas tree with the Nutcracker toy in her arms. However, according to the book Nutcracker Nation, the original ballet story had Clara, danced by then twelve-year-old Stanislava Balinskaya, staying on to rule the kingdom with her Prince, whom she supposedly married sometime in the future.^[10]

 

 

Giselle is the crowning achievement of the Romantic era of ballet, the most poetic of all 

19th-century full-length works. Giselle was inspired by two works of literature, Victor 

 

Hugo's Fantomes and Heinrich Heine’s De l’Allemagne, which tells the tale of young 

 

women who died before their wedding day, but whose love of dancing keeps them from

eternal rest. The ballet is about a peasant girl with a weak heart and a love for dancing,  

 

who becomes engaged to a man she believes to be a peasant, only to discover that he is,

 

in fact, Duke Albrecht, and engaged to another. Giselle goes mad and dies of a broken 

 

heart. In the second act the scene shifts to a forest haunted by Wilis, the spirits of young

 

women who died before their wedding day and spend eternity dancing from midnight to

 

dawn, killing any man who happens to wander their way. Myrtha, the Queen of the Wilis, 

summons Giselle from her grave in order to initiate her into the community. A 

despondent Albrecht comes to pay his respects at Giselle’s grave, but with Giselle’s 

intervention, his life is saved, and Giselle rests in peace.

 

 

Coppélia

 

Act I - The Harvest

Doctor Coppélius is putting the finishing touches on Coppélia (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes) after setting her out to dry on the balcony of his house. Coppélia appears to be reading a book. She seems so real that Doctor Coppélius is, himself, almost unaware that she is only a doll. In his loneliness, the fanatical dollmaker has created Coppélia to be his companion and secretly dreams of discovering a way of bringing her to life.

As the town awakens, the baker (Swanilda's mother), the tavern keepers (Franz's parents), the milkmaid, the cobbler, the tailor, the flower seller, and various children go about their morning business. The priest gets his daily bread from the bakery and shepherds the children to school.

Swanilda arrives and greets her friends who are off to their work in the fields. Seeing Coppélia on the balcony, she dances to attract her attention and wonders why the reading figure does not respond. Like everyone else, she believes the doll to be a living person.

Coming out of the tavern, Franz sees Coppélia and is infatuated by the beautiful doll. He buys some flowers for Swanilda, who cannot be located. While the baker searches for her daughter, Franz continues his overtures to the doll. Bowing, blowing kisses and waving, he too believes that she is human.

Franz hides as Doctor Coppélius comes out to adjust the doll's mechanism, which he sets in motion. Coppélia stands up and blows kisses in the direction of Franz, who is unaware that these kisses are not really for him, but for Doctor Coppélius. Swanilda, entering at this moment, is dismayed by these kisses and dashes angrily away, only to return with some children who are chasing butterflies. They are clumsily helped by Franz, who manages to crush the butterfly he has caught. Swanilda ridicules him and at the same time indicates her strong displeasure at Franz's attention to Coppélia.

To arouse Franz's jealousy, Swanilda dances a mazurka with Milorad, the leader of the wheat harvesters, who arrives to celebrate the harvest. Doctor Coppélius, irritated by the noise of the festival, removes his doll from the balcony into the house.

The priest, Father Jedermann, who arrives to bless the wheat harvest, tells the legend of the stalk of wheat, which when shaken will tell who is to be married. Only Swanilda hears the prediction of the wheat, but since she is still angry with Franz, she pretends to hear nothing. Franz listens and hears the wheat's message. An explosion from Doctor Coppélius' house gives evidence that he is still experimenting with potential ways of bringing his doll to life.

When the grape harvesters arrive to celebrate, Franz dances the czardas with Rosika, the queen of the harvest. This is his effort to arouse Swanilda's jealousy.

As the day ends, the festivities wane and villagers wend their way homeward. Swanilda is annoyed by Franz's flirting with Rosika and invites some girlfriends to accompany her home. Franz counters by inviting some of his friends to come for a drink at the tavern.

Doctor Coppélius leaves his house on his way to the tavern to relax. He is met by Franz's friends who make fun of this foolish old man who lives in a house with mysterious Coppélia.

Swanilda, looking for Franz from her window, sees Doctor Coppélius hide his latch key when leaving his house. As Doctor Coppélius rids himself of the pesky boys and goes into the tavern, Swanilda and her friends come into the square. Swanilda, taking Doctor Coppélius' house key from its hiding place, opens the front door. Her girl friends are reluctant to follow Swanilda into the house, where mysterious events revolving around Coppélia have been taking place. Nevertheless, Swanilda unlocks the door and forces her friends to accompany her into the house.

Doctor Coppélius, returns from the tavern, discovers his key in the street and sees that the door has been unlocked. Thinking the mischievous boys have entered his house, he rushes in and slams his door. As he disappears, Franz arrives with a ladder and proceeds to climb to the balcony of the house in quest of his new infatuation, Coppélia.

Act II - The Deception

Inside Doctor Coppélius' house, the girls are investigating the puzzling contents of the workshop. Discovering Coppélia, they realize that she is only one of several dolls—all quite human in appearance—which the girls uncover and set in motion.

Doctor Coppélius comes upon the scene and furious, he sends the girls scurrying in fear from the house. Swanilda, unable to escape with the others, hides in a closet with Coppélia, where she changes clothes with the doll and a$$umes her identity.

Franz, ignorant of all these events, enters from the balcony searching for Coppélia. Hiding until Franz is inside, Doctor Coppélius catches him after a frantic chase and questions his motives for being in the house. Franz, having seen Coppélia in the closet, explains to Doctor Coppélius that he has fallen in love with he doll and would, in fact, like to marry her.

Dr. Coppélius is much amused that this bumpkin has fallen in love with his creation. He conceives a plan: he will give Franz a potion, after which he will extract the "life force" from his body and use it to breathe real life into his beloved doll.

He entices Franz to drink the elixir, disguised as wine, and Franz soon falls into a deep sleep. While Franz is unconscious, Doctor Coppélius brings out Swanilda, who he thinks is his doll Coppélia.

With Franz safely under his control, Doctor Coppélius proceeds with a series of manipulations designed to bring life to the inanimate doll by removing life's energy from Franz. Through his maneuvers, Doctor Coppélius succeeds in eliciting from Swanilda a series of doll-like movements which he naturally attributes to the alchemy he has practiced upon Franz. Unsatisfied by her stilted movements, he mixes a very special potion designed to instill more realistic and human qualities in the doll. He sprinkles her with this mixture, whereupon she suddenly becomes quite genuinely alive for him. Overcome with joy at his success, Doctor Coppélius has the "living" Coppélia entertain him by dancing.

Tiring of the game she is playing, Swanilda tries to awaken the unconscious Franz, an effort that Doctor Coppélius attempts to thwart for fear she might succeed. But she persists and does succeed. Awaking but somewhat delirious, Franz sees Doctor Coppélius attempting to push Swanilda away. Thinking her to be Coppélia, he tries to chase away Doctor Coppélius—but the chased becomes the chaser and Franz is forced from the house. Hard upon his heels is Swanilda, who herself is trying to leave the house with Franz. Doctor Coppélius catches her, pushes her back into the closet and sits down to catch his breath.

Once more, Swanilda renews her escape attempt, knocking over all the dolls in the room and creating general mayhem and confusion in the workshop. Doctor Coppélius is still unaware that he is dealing with Swanilda and not with Coppélia, and he asks her why she is behaving so wretchedly. At this point, she discloses her true identity as Swanilda, and at the same time revealing the Coppélia doll sitting in disarray in the closet.

Franz, returning through the balcony, is still seeking Coppélia with whom he has fallen in love. He overhears Swanilda as she explains to Doctor Coppélius how she has changed places with the doll. Now understanding what has transpired, Franz is aware of his own stupidity. Through a foolish mistake he has become infatuated with nothing more than a doll; he knows now that it is Swanilda whom he has truly loved all along. Thereupon, he rescues Swanilda from the confusion and disarray of the house of the now-broken-hearted Doctor Coppélius.

Act III - The Wedding

The town is prepared for the wedding of Franz and Swanilda as it was foretold by the legend of the stalk of wheat. Amid the preparations in the village square, an irate Doctor Coppélius arrives to denounce the wedding and heap scorn upon the couple to be married. They have, after all, created havoc in his life. He is calmed by the parents of Franz and Swanilda and is given a sum of money to cover the damages to his property and person. Coppélius is also invited to the wedding. He cannot attend the wedding, he says, because he lacks the proper attire. Whereupon, the village tailor, Mudjik, offers him a new outfit for the nuptials. The widow Lustige, Swanilda's mother, takes Doctor Coppélius by the arm, intent on charming him. Doctor Coppélius forgets his dolls and his loneliness and joins in the festivities. There is general rejoicing in the village as Franz and Swanilda are married, thereby fulfilling the prophecy promised by the legend of the stalk of wheat.

 

 

Act I

In a magical Fairy Kingdom, a Princess named Aurora was born to a wonderful King and Queen. The Kingdom’s Fairy of Protection, Lilac Fairy, and all of her maidens were invited to celebrate Princess Aurora’s birth. In the midst of the excitement, the royal family forgot to invite the wicked fairy, Carabosse. Although Carabosse is distraught by their neglect, she and her crew come to party anyway, but with evil intentions. She disguises herself as a beautiful fairy and pretends to enjoy the festivities. However, her evil becomes her and she casts a spell over Princess Aurora saying that on her 16th birthday she will *** her finger and die. Quick to save the Princess, the Lilac Fairy casts another spell saying that she will only fall asleep after ***ing her finger. Once Carabosse leaves, the party is restored and everyone continues to celebrate.

Sixteen years later, the royal family begins to celebrate Princess Aurora’s 16th birthday. Since the night of her birth, the King had ordered that all sharp objects be kept out of the kingdom so she could not hurt herself. His rules were broken, however, on the night of her party. During the celebration, Carabosse disguises herself again, this time as a beautiful seamstress, and presents Princess Aurora with a beautiful tapestry. Enchanted by its beauty, Princess Aurora grabs the tapestry and hurts her finger on a needle that Carabosse secretly hid. Carabosse laughs in victory and runs out of the castle. Remembering the spell she had cast before, Lilac Fairy appears to make sure Princess Aurora fell asleep. Lilac Fairy casts a spell on the entire family and court to fall asleep ensuring them of their safety

Act II

One hundred years later in a dark forest, a Prince by the name of Florimund is hunting with his friends. He leaves his friends and insists on being alone. Lilac Fairy hears the commotion and ventures out to Prince Florimund. He tells her that he is lonely and is in need of love. She has the perfect idea. She presents an image of Princess Aurora to him and he instantly falls in love.

She leads him to the castle to rescue the beautiful Princess and put an end to the evil fairy, Carabosse. Lilac Fairy reveals the hidden castle to Prince Florimund. Just when Prince Florimund steps into the castle doorway, Carabosse appears before him. She will not let him through and a battle quickly follows. Prince Florimund finally overpowers her and he races into the castle. Knowing the only way to break the spell, he quickly finds Princess Aurora and kisses her. The spell is broken and Carabosse is finally defeated. Princess Aurora and her entire family wake up from their deep sleep. Princess Aurora accepts Prince Florimund's proposal for marriage and her family approves.

Act III (in the room)

The castle is filled with music and laughter as the family and maids clean the dusty old castle for the wedding. The wedding is attended by the Prince’s family as well as the fairies. And like every great fairytale, they seal their marriage with a kiss and live happily ever after.

The fairies are: 1. Candite (Honesty, candid) in red

2. Coulante. Fleur de Farine (Running. Flower of the Flour) in pink
3. Miettes qui Tombent (Crumbs which fall) in white
4. Canari qui Chante (Canary which sings) in blue
5. Violente (Violent) in yellow
6. La Fee des Lilas (The Lilac Fairy) in purple

"La Bayadère," a cl***ic ballet in four acts and seven tableaux, was originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and performed to music composed by Ludwig Minkus. The production debuted in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1877 at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theater. The enduring tale of love, betrayal, and redemption is considered one of the best-loved cl***ical ballets of all time.

The action takes place in the royal court of ancient India. As the story unfolds, the audience learns that Nikiya, a beautiful temple dancer ("La Bayadère" is French for "temple maiden" or "temple dancer"), is in love with a young warrior named Solor and he is in love with her—but their love is not to be.

The High Brahmin is also in love with Nikiya. He plots to ensure Solor and Nikiya can never be together. Against his wishes, Solor becomes betrothed to the Rajah's scheming daughter, Gamzatti. During the betrothal ceremony, Nikiya is forced to dance, after which she receives a basket of flowers. Unbeknownst to her, the floral tribute comes courtesy of her rival, the spiteful Gamzatti and contains a deadly snake. The snake bites Nikiya; mortally wounded, Nikiya dies.

Solor dreams of reuniting with Nikiya in the afterlife, or "Kingdom of the Shades." Sadly, when he awakens, he realizes that he is still engaged to the Rajah's daughter. During the wedding ceremony, Solor has a vision of Nikiya. As he makes his vows, he believes he is making them to his lost love, not to Gamzatti. The gods, infuriated by the human treachery that has been perpetrated, destroy the palace. At the end of the ballet, Solor and Nikiya reunite in the spirit in the Kingdom of the Shades.