The Nutmeg Ballet Didn't Hit All the Right Notes

    The Nutcracker is a famous ballet written by Tchaikovsky. The Nutcracker takes place on Christmas eve.  The first part of the ballet shows the Von Stahlbaums’ annual Christmas party, in which the young girl, Clara, receives an enchanted nutcracker doll from her godfather, Dr. Drosselmeyer.  Fritz, Clara’s brother, accidently breaks the doll.  Dr. Drosselmeyer magically repairs the nutcracker.  After the party is over, Clara falls asleep and dreams about a magical world.  The magical world is portrayed by many characters from the mice and the Queen Mouse to the Sugar Plum Fairy, the Snow Queen and even a prince.  During the dream, many dances take place including many styles and both solo and ensemble parts.  The ballet ends with Clara waking up in her house with the doll in her arms.  

    Last weekend, I saw The Nutmeg Ballet’s production of the Nutcracker at the Bushnell.  I enjoyed the show and I thought the dancers were very talented, but I do have some negative comments.  My first comment is about the costumes.  The costumes during the dream were beautiful.  However, Clara did not stand out as different.  When reading My Love, My Love, the class has spent time looking at costumes.  We, as a class, have all agreed that the characters need to stand out in various ways to show the audience the social class and connection to the other characters.  I felt the costumes failed to make Clara stand out from the other characters.  Many of the characters, including the Sugar Plum Fairy, the Snow Queen and Dr. Drosselmeyer, were all easily distinguishable from the other dancers.  In the beginning during the Christmas party, Clara appeared in a nightgown like all of the other young girls.  Each girl had the same style gown in different colors.  Clara could have worn a different style nightgown or worn a more distinguishable color.  This would have made her more noticeable as a main character.  This continued throughout the dream as well.  Clara wore a simple light pink dress.  The magical creatures and fairies all had bright, sparkly costumes that were easily seen by the audience.  I was disappointed because while the costume was the same color as the nightgown, which proves there was an effort to show Clara in the dream and Clara sleeping as the same character, the costume did not stand out.  Clara was not easily distinguishable throughout the show, which made her nearly invisible to the audience in the magical scenes.  If I chose the costumes, I would make Clara easily stand out to the audience.  

    Another disappointing aspect of the show was the lack of a live orchestra.  The music is beautiful and it would have made the show very impressive if there was a live orchestra.  While the sound was not bad, an audience member could tell it came from the speakers.  A live orchestra is always better, especially in a ballet where there is no dialogue. The music makes half the ballet and the other half is the dancing.  The dancing was great, but the music was only mediocre.  It is easy to play the music through a speaker, it takes more talent to play the music live.  Therefore, the music during The Nutmeg Ballet’s production was not impressive. 

    Overall, these two negative comments did not destroy the whole show.  The show was still very enjoyable.  These are just aspects that could be improved to make the show even better.  I chose to write about only negative things because in this particular show, they stood out.  My final thought is that I enjoyed the show.  The cast was obviously very talented, but I did see some possible improvements to make the show more than just fantastic dancing.  

Why Not a Tree?

          The ending of My Love, My Love was unsatisfyingly frustrating.  In The Little Mermaid, the mermaid fails to marry the prince like Ti Moune fails to marry Daniel.  However, the mermaid at least gets one of her goals.  The mermaid wishes to receive a soul to live an afterlife and to marry the prince.  While the prince marries another girl, the mermaid still receives a chance from the air fairies to go to heaven.  After reading this, I hoped the ending of My Love, My Love would be somewhat more satisfying.  I did not expect Ti Moune to marry Daniel, however, I did expect the end of the book to be more hopeful or to see Ti Moune transform in some way.  Instead Lucifus “[picks] up [Ti Moune’s] corpse by an arm and a leg, [dumping] it at the side of the road to await the garbage collectors.”  This shows that Ti Moune has died and is not even seen as a peasant anymore.  She is seen as garbage.  Another important part of the ending is her connection to the gods, which is displayed throughout the book, has backfired.  She dies in none other than a storm, similar to the one she survived as a young girl.  This ending is frustrating because she dies.  She gets swept out of the Hotel Beauxhommes at a rapid pace following the return of Andrea. This seems very unfair to a girl who has made this journey to make Daniel well again.  In addition, she is not only demoted as a peasant, but the storm seems to symbolize that the gods are no longer advocating for Desiree, showing that she is a lonely piece of garbage.  Overall, Desiree makes the journey from being loved by Mama Euralie and Tonton Julian to an obsessive love for Daniel to being lonely, which is frustrating to see because the main character does not thrive.  She grew throughout the story only to end up as a piece of garbage on the side of the road.  

         The book teaches its reader to be who they are.  At the beginning of the book, before Desiree meets Daniel, she is a hopeful person.  She believes she has a connection to the gods and she is hopeful of they will bring to her.  As she goes on the journey, she is still naive, however she grows up.  She has hopes and dreams of marrying Daniel, but these hopes and dreams become challenged.  Previously, she had a good life as a peasant  and was able to daydream as she wanted, but she wanted more.  When she left her peasant life, she did not get to marry Daniel and she ended up dying.  This ending is sad to prove that the best life for Desiree was not at the Hotel Beauxhommes.  The author also makes a statement through the little girl that Desiree cannot return to the peasant life.  If Desiree had resisted the urge to see Daniel, she most likely would not have died from the storm.  The storm was the wrath of the gods because Desiree had abused them along the way, especially Erzulie by placing the comb in a drawer.  Desiree took the opportunity to take care of Daniel for granted.  In addition, the story involves realistic.  Desiree easily became obsessed with Daniel.  She thought she was different from the other peasants.  While this was partially true, she did not fit in with the rich people either, but she ignored this fact.  To avoid the depressing ending, Desiree needs to understand her place in society.  To conclude, My Love, My Love teaches the reader to not only be who they are, but to also be realistic and understand their place in the world.  

Sources: Google Images

My Love, My Love by Rosa Guy

Analytical Questions

1)Discuss the similarities between night in the Little Mermaid and night in My Love, My Love.  What does night symbolize?

2) To what extent do the gods affect Desiree's decisions through the novel? Which god/gods influence her the most?

3) Compare and contrast Desiree's relationship with the godmother to Juliet's relationship with the Nurse.

4) If you were to stage a scene at the hotel, how would you make it different from the peasants? Would the characters act differently? Would the staging be different? What would the rich costumes look like? Also, talk about lighting, props, set pieces etc.  

Everyone loves a good, bad guy

        My favorite character in My Love, My Love is Papa Ge.  While the gods do not appear very often, I always enjoyed the plot when Papa Ge appeared.  He seems like the most mysterious of the gods.  Papa Ge is the dark and mysterious character that is evil, but lovable to the audience.  The description of his appearance was scary and intriguing.  The first time Papa Ge appears is in the hut during the storm.  The author, Rosa Guy, describes “a shadow that became thicker, larger, then formed itself into a man, a man in black who perched inside the window, his clothes as dark as the night behind him, his top hat outlined against the gray, stormy sky… His mouth gleamed red, blood red.  He grinned around a cigar clenched between brown teeth that were dripping with blood.”(46)  Papa Ge appears to be scary as one might expect the God of death to be, but he also has a side where he seems independent from the other gods.  Papa Ge is one of the only gods that shows himself to Desiree in his own body.  This is significant because it makes him seem like the most powerful god.  He is also inevitably present in many situations.  All peasants die and meet him once, but Desiree meets him several times.  Each time he is responsible for scaring Desiree and moving the story along.  This includes both showing up at the hut threatening Daniel’s life and sending Desiree to kill Daniel when he becomes engaged to Andrea.  This shows that his characters has two sides.  He does his job as the God of death, but he is also kind in a way that he is tempted to help Desiree.  He always appears when Desiree needs hope.  He strengthens her character by challenging her and then leaving, forcing her to assume why he appeared and giving her hope for herself and Daniel in his absence.  

       Papa Ge’s relationship with Agwe is also interesting.  Papa Ge only speaks to the arrogant Agwe once, in a way that both suggest to the audience they are more powerful.  In my opinion, Papa Ge is more powerful.  Agwe, to Erzulie, says “Then I shall destroy them. I shall destroy all. Then I shall use my wrath in the darkness and the light of a soulless world. I am a most powerful god, Erzulie.”(78) In this quote, Agwe is bragging to Erzulie how he will kill every living thing on the island, but Erzulie has left and Papa Ge appears to hear this.  Papa Ge mocks Agwe: “Ha, ha, ha.  Even I shall lose my power at such a time.”  Papa Ge points out that Agwe is not the only god capable of taking life.  He is annoyed with Agwe because Agwe is pushing into Papa Ge’s territory.  Agwe is forgetting the other god’s powers and being arrogant.  Rather than argung with Agwe, Papa Ge just sarcastically proves him wrong.  I like this quality in Papa Ge.  He is and evil and calm character which makes him fun to read about.  

Quiz- Ti Moune's Love, Hope and Freedom

The musical adaptation of My Love, My Love reflects many themes from the novel including the contrast between Ti Moune and the other peasants, Ti Moune’s desire to fly free, and Ti Moune’s feeling that it was fate she met Daniel.

    The lyrics of the song portray the difference between Ti Moune and the other peasants including Mama Euralie and Tonton Julian.  In the song, Ti Moune sings “Happy to have what they have and to stay where they are.  They never even look up at the sound of the car.”  This relates to two aspects of the book.  First, it relates to the idea that the peasants are happy and they do not wish for more, while Ti Moune is often dreaming of a different life.  She seems to consistently ask herself and others: ‘Why do things have to be the way they are?’ and ‘Why can’t things change?’  The second aspect is that the other peasants do not look up to the sound of the car.  The peasants are busy and are stuck in the way things are.  Meanwhile Ti Moune is intrigued by new experiences and is using her imagination to explore her surroundings.  This is similar to the plot in the book where she is the first, and only peasant for some time, to find the car crash.  In the novel she wonders “How, with so terrible a crash, did no one hear?  Where were those who always knew of or heard of, or sensed tragedy even before tragedy presented itself? Where were they all?” (30).  At this time in the book, she is standing along side car crash alone.  In both the song and the novel, Ti Moune is the only character to notice the car crash, which shows her as a different peasant from the others.  In both versions, this difference is extremely important to the plot because it develops Ti Moune as a distinct character from the ensemble of other peasants. 

    Another similarity between the novel and the musical is Ti Moune’s desire to fly free.  In the novel “a papillon lit on one of the curling leaves.” Ti Moune reaches toward it and places in an imaginary cage. When she brings the butterfly closer to the cage and “[opens] her hand to release it. When she opened her eyes the butterfly had disappeared.”  The butterfly signifies freedom to Ti Moune.  Ti Moune feels stuck as a peasant and often wishes to fly away.  A butterfly can fly wherever it wants and it is not bound anywhere.  Ti Moune desires this freedom.  In the song she sings “How it must feel to go racing wherever you please, flying as free a bird with his tail in the breeze.”  This differs slightly from the novel because she refers to a bird instead of a butterfly, but it still displays the same idea: freedom.  This is an important idea because it is involved in many of Ti Moune’s decisions regarding her life.  Overall, freedom is an important theme throughout both the play and the novel.

A third way the song “Waiting for Life to Begin” from the musical adaptation relates to the novel version is the idea of fate.  Ti Moune feels this powerful love for Daniel instantaneously and believes it was fate the car crash.  Following the crash she does everything to save Daniel’s life.  She thinks it is fate she found the car that crashed and she has responsibility to take care of him.   In the novel she talks to Daniel’s unconscious body.  She says “I’ll protect you.  I’ll do battle, if battle need be done- with the gods, even with my own Agwe, to keep you alive.”  This shows her commitment to Daniel.  In addition, she has not talked to Daniel yet and already feels a strong connection.  Ti Moune feels love at first sight for Daniel, which is portrayed in the song: “Your car will stop and in I’ll hop and off we’ll drive.”  She is referring to a stranger’s car in the song and has not yet met Daniel.  She has not met him and yet she is in love with a stranger, which is similar to the book.  The song also suggests that the car will come, proposing that Daniel is her fate.  To conclude, the song accurately represents Ti Moune’s fate to meet Daniel and her love at first sight.  

In summary, the novel and the musical share many similarities including Ti Moune’s distinctiveness, freedom, and Ti Moune and Daniel’s fate to meet and to fall in love.

A Poorer Version of a God (#4)

         If I were to stage My Love, My Love, I would make sure Ti Moune stood out as a unique character who is uncategorizable among the peasant, the wealthy, and the gods.  She would share traits of all three.  The single most important thing would make her distinguishable at first glance.  At first, I thought about choosing a specific color, similar to the way we dressed the gods in class.  However, she is a unique character who does not fit in any category and I feel this is important to display.  Rather than making her limited to one color, she should be dressed in many colors representing different aspects.  Some of these aspects should display her connection to the gods.  She would wear a skirt on which the colors of the gods (pink, green, blue and black) should be intertwined.  There should however, be no specific pattern with small details as it will be hard to see on stage.  The pattern could be loose swirls almost as if food coloring was dropped into water.  This would also create a sense of mystery and curiosity to Ti Moune.  The basic look of her costume would be similar to the peasants because she has ultimately grown up poor.  This means she would wear a loose peasant-looking skirt and a basic shirt.  In addition, her feet would be bare.  That being said, the look would be just different enough at close glance that she would seem different from other peasants.  Besides portraying mystery, Ti Moune should also display some funky cuts maybe an uneven trim on her skirt or some gatherings in the fabric to make her different from other peasants.  it is difficult to imagine Ti Moune having fashion similarities to the rich because her family does not have the resources.  She identifies with the rich in her daydreaming which is already portrayed in her costume, but it would be unrealistic to dress her very similarly with the rich.  One possible way would be to look more put together than the other peasants, but I think this is a bit abstract compared to the other, more valuable connections previously established. Overall, Ti Moune’s costume would uniquely stand out from the other characters, but it will only establish strong connections with some aspects due to staging and the nature of the character’s background.

The Gods Unmasked

If I were to stage the novel as a play, the gods would have the most elaborate costumes.  Asaka, goddess of the Earth, would be dressed in a loose, flowy green dress.  The dress would consist of a main shade of green with other various shades of green adding detail.  Her mask would be green and brown, displaying the idea of the forest.  Possibly a brown facial part looking like bark with flowers and green plants.  The flowers would be pink or white.  An example would be magnolias.  If Asaka did not wear a mask, she would have green, earthy makeup accompanied by flowers (still pink) in her hair. 

Agwe, god of water, would be dressed in blue.  I would keep the flowy look from Asaka’s costume by adding loose pants and a flowy shirt or vest.  If the shirt had sleeves, I would add tassels to hang from the underside of his arm to further add to the flowy effect.  The tassels could also symbolize Agwe’s control over rain.  Agwe’s mask would consist of fish netting on a blue background with shells and other ocean items, such as a crab.  Agwe is described in the novel to control both the rain and the sea and I would do my best to show both parts.  If Agwe did not wear a mask, his makeup would show the movement of water.  I think it would be interesting if he had waves of some outline of water drawn in blue.  In addition, I picture Agwe’s hair being soft and not long but not really short either.  Agwe is described as being generous, so I would try by best to make his kindness a part of his look. 

Erzulie, goddess of love, would be dressed in a flowy dress similar to Asaka’s, but in pink and red.  Erzulie would be mostly pink but display some red to not only take away some girliness, but also to connect her and Papa Ge. I picture Erzulie in lace with some tulle. Her mask would be made with feathers of red, pink, and white.  If Erzulie did not have a mask, her makeup would be primarily red and white.  The red and white would form the shape of hearts because I do not want to make her so innocent and girly.  

Papa Ge, god of death, would have the same flowy look as the other gods in the color black with highlights in red.  As mentioned above, the red would connect him with Erzulie.  While his costume will still be loose it should be slightly more fitted.  I picture death as mysterious and that he matches the other gods but not really.  His mask would be black with his features, like his eyes and mouth, highlighted with bright red. If he does not wear a mask his mask should consist of lines in black with red eyeshadow.  His hair should be standing up on his head and look spiky.  

Overall, the gods and goddesses’s costumes should reflect their individual personalities, but they should look of similar importance because they share the same status in life.  The gods will be different from the other characters because they will wear the most elaborate costumes.  The peasants will wear simpler costumes, possibly a little ripped from the amount of work they have completed.  The rich will not have ripped costumes but they will also be less elaborate than the gods.

Pictures from Google Images

Photos