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He seems to be a little hard of hearing, but he knows some wonderful magic tricks
Shaun O'Brien has died. In February, but I didn't see until this morning when I was looking up his husband, Cris Alexander (who didn't outlive him for long). He was my first Drosselmeyer, my strongest memory of The Nutcracker at the New York City Ballet; I was six years old and my god-aunt Susan took me for Christmas. He tinkered for the children, stood apart from the adults at their dance and became an owl on the clock at midnight, a psychopomp from the daylight to the dream worlds. I never saw him in another role. It didn't matter. I was glad to know he was out in the world.
I wouldn't see another production of The Nutcracker until the Boston Ballet's in 2010. Even there, what I was looking for was a good Drosselmeyer. (We had one, fortunately, in Sabi Varga. I still want to see him as Coppélius, another character part O'Brien originated.) I'm sure when![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
strange_selkie asked me to be godmother to her daughter, I had some idea at the back of my head that I should be as properly weird as a Hoffmann character for her. I write things for her, which is something like.
I came home from New York City in 1987 with a small hardcover book, Ellen Switzer's The Nutcracker: A Story of a Ballet (1985). It's sort of a Young Person's Guide to Balanchine: there's an introduction tracking the changes between E.T.A. Hoffmann's "Nussknacker und Mausekönig" and then the ballet as it evolved into its present form, a narrative of Balanchine's version illustrated with photographs from that year's production, and then a series of short statements by the dancers on the characters they play. I shall let O'Brien speak for himself.
"I think of Herr Drosselmeier more in terms of character and personality than in terms of background and occupation. After all the years I have performed him, I have not yet figured out what he did before he came to the party, or what he does when he leaves. Perhaps we are not even supposed to know what his past and future are.
"In a way he is like the Drosselmeier of the original E.T.A. Hoffmann story, though none of the other characters in the ballet are. He is mysterious and strange, but is also very rational, actually sometimes very wise. He may seem quirky and eccentric, and some of his movements may seem unlike those made by the other people in the ballet, but he is also kind and generous. Later, when I am sitting on the clock, when Marie wakes up on the couch, I accentuate those strange movements, so that I remind her of the owl on the clock and of a bat. That frightens her . . . but I am never a character out of a horror story. I know (even if she does not) that everything will turn out well for her in the end.
"I also think many of the adults at the party consider Drosselmeier stranger and weirder than many of the children do. Children like him, especially Marie. With adults, he is either withdrawn or polite in an exaggerated way. With children he is much more natural. He wants to impress them. That may be one of the reasons he wears those gold chains and bangles. He knows that children find that kind of glittering jewelry fascinating.
"But even though he likes children, he is uncomfortable in the middle of a crowd. When the children get too close, he gets nervous and upset. The children seem to know this instinctively . . . they seem, deliberately, to leave some space around him.
"Also, I feel that the party reminds him of something in his own, mysterious past. When couples are dancing, he doesn't join in. He stands in the background and moves his arms and hands as if he were directing the dance. When the little girls rock their dolls, he looks rather sad, as if he were remembering someone he has lost . . . his mother, perhaps. And, at the end of the party, he seems absorbed in the same kind of feelings. He may be remembering a party from his youth, when he was not so alone and isolated.
"He obviously cares about his nephew and treats him more like an adult than like one of the other children. But I think that the nephew doesn't live with him; that, perhaps, he only visits him over the Christmas holidays. He is not a father figure to him, more like an equal. There are many similarities in the personalities of the nephew and the uncle: the shyness, the withdrawal from noisy crowds, the dislike of childish quarrels. And Drosselmeier wants his nephew to like Marie and to get to know her, because he likes her.
"In shaping the stage character, I have also patterned some of my movements on those of Mr. Balanchine. There was a space around him, too. He was very polite, even formal at times. So, some of my memories of Mr. Balanchine may show up in the way I play Drosselmeier.
"Incidentally, Mr. Balanchine allowed me to shape the character the way I saw him, most of the time. But sometimes I would do something he did not like, that did not fit his own perception of Drosselmeier. For instance, in one performance I burped loudly when I swallowed one of the nuts, and Mr. Balanchine let me know that he didn't want me to do that. I think he didn't want Drosselmeier to look ridiculous. He was supposed to be dignified even when he was quirky. That accentuated his mystery."
There's a line about Drosselmeyer in "The Color of the Ghost," the poem I wrote for my god-daughter. Even though it's mostly about Wittgenstein. Now you know whose fault that was.
I wouldn't see another production of The Nutcracker until the Boston Ballet's in 2010. Even there, what I was looking for was a good Drosselmeyer. (We had one, fortunately, in Sabi Varga. I still want to see him as Coppélius, another character part O'Brien originated.) I'm sure when
strange_selkie asked me to be godmother to her daughter, I had some idea at the back of my head that I should be as properly weird as a Hoffmann character for her. I write things for her, which is something like.I came home from New York City in 1987 with a small hardcover book, Ellen Switzer's The Nutcracker: A Story of a Ballet (1985). It's sort of a Young Person's Guide to Balanchine: there's an introduction tracking the changes between E.T.A. Hoffmann's "Nussknacker und Mausekönig" and then the ballet as it evolved into its present form, a narrative of Balanchine's version illustrated with photographs from that year's production, and then a series of short statements by the dancers on the characters they play. I shall let O'Brien speak for himself.
"I think of Herr Drosselmeier more in terms of character and personality than in terms of background and occupation. After all the years I have performed him, I have not yet figured out what he did before he came to the party, or what he does when he leaves. Perhaps we are not even supposed to know what his past and future are.
"In a way he is like the Drosselmeier of the original E.T.A. Hoffmann story, though none of the other characters in the ballet are. He is mysterious and strange, but is also very rational, actually sometimes very wise. He may seem quirky and eccentric, and some of his movements may seem unlike those made by the other people in the ballet, but he is also kind and generous. Later, when I am sitting on the clock, when Marie wakes up on the couch, I accentuate those strange movements, so that I remind her of the owl on the clock and of a bat. That frightens her . . . but I am never a character out of a horror story. I know (even if she does not) that everything will turn out well for her in the end.
"I also think many of the adults at the party consider Drosselmeier stranger and weirder than many of the children do. Children like him, especially Marie. With adults, he is either withdrawn or polite in an exaggerated way. With children he is much more natural. He wants to impress them. That may be one of the reasons he wears those gold chains and bangles. He knows that children find that kind of glittering jewelry fascinating.
"But even though he likes children, he is uncomfortable in the middle of a crowd. When the children get too close, he gets nervous and upset. The children seem to know this instinctively . . . they seem, deliberately, to leave some space around him.
"Also, I feel that the party reminds him of something in his own, mysterious past. When couples are dancing, he doesn't join in. He stands in the background and moves his arms and hands as if he were directing the dance. When the little girls rock their dolls, he looks rather sad, as if he were remembering someone he has lost . . . his mother, perhaps. And, at the end of the party, he seems absorbed in the same kind of feelings. He may be remembering a party from his youth, when he was not so alone and isolated.
"He obviously cares about his nephew and treats him more like an adult than like one of the other children. But I think that the nephew doesn't live with him; that, perhaps, he only visits him over the Christmas holidays. He is not a father figure to him, more like an equal. There are many similarities in the personalities of the nephew and the uncle: the shyness, the withdrawal from noisy crowds, the dislike of childish quarrels. And Drosselmeier wants his nephew to like Marie and to get to know her, because he likes her.
"In shaping the stage character, I have also patterned some of my movements on those of Mr. Balanchine. There was a space around him, too. He was very polite, even formal at times. So, some of my memories of Mr. Balanchine may show up in the way I play Drosselmeier.
"Incidentally, Mr. Balanchine allowed me to shape the character the way I saw him, most of the time. But sometimes I would do something he did not like, that did not fit his own perception of Drosselmeier. For instance, in one performance I burped loudly when I swallowed one of the nuts, and Mr. Balanchine let me know that he didn't want me to do that. I think he didn't want Drosselmeier to look ridiculous. He was supposed to be dignified even when he was quirky. That accentuated his mystery."
There's a line about Drosselmeyer in "The Color of the Ghost," the poem I wrote for my god-daughter. Even though it's mostly about Wittgenstein. Now you know whose fault that was.
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Have you seen Mark Morris's The Hard Nut one of the threads weaving through that piece (which I love^92) is Drosselmeier's quest to save his nephew from the curse. The Act 2 pas de deux (in Balanchine between Clara and the prince and in the Royal Ballet between the Nutcracker Fairy and the Cavalier) is for Drosselmeier and his nephew, and I think it's impossibly tender.
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Tell me about Antony Dowell?
(I have never seen Mark Morris' The Hard Nut.)
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Oh, that Manon!
This clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EHyI2bIGc8&feature=related) captures some of the spookiness of the Royal Ballet's Nutcracker, as the toys from earlier in the evening menace Clara, as well as showing that Dowell can work the ever-lovin hell out of a cape.
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May you be as magical for your godchild.
Nine
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Hah. Thank you. I am doing what I can.
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This is a wonderful post. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, and Shaun O'Brien's as well.
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It's a very neat thing to include in a book for children who have just seen the ballet: this is how it's done.