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Arts
The Dark Side of the Nutcracker10 Dec 2007
'Nutcracker', picture courtesy of R80o (Mark Strozier) on flickr.com
The sinister story behind the fairy tale ballet

'The Nutcracker' has become something of a Christmas family tradition. It’s one of the most popular ballets in the world and this year’s productions are opening or already in full swing across the UK. For audiences, it’s an enchanting, fairy-tale experience, but few realise that its origins are a little more sinister. Jane discusses the ballet and the darker story behind it.

The extract used on Woman's Hour was from 'Nutcracker', by E.T.A. Hoffmann, Maurice Sendak (Illustrator) and Ralph Manheim (Translator), published by Gramercy Books; Reissue edition (Oct 1991), ISBN-13: 978-0517552858

Penguin Classics has published Nutcracker and Mouse King: AND The Tale of the Nutcracker by Alexandre Dumas, E.T.A. Hoffmann, and Joachim Neugroschel, Nov 2007, ISBN 0143104837
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