East Asian Linguistics

Joint Article with Kayla Fu

“The Nutcracker”, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, is often danced yearly by dancers and companies all over the world, for it has become a widespread tradition since the 1960s. 

Dancers from not only famous ballet companies like the New York City Ballet but also our local studios eagerly await to rehearse and showcase the same performance, year after year. 

It has become a valued tradition upheld by dancers all around the world. 

From the iconic Sugar Plum Fairy and the exotic Arabian Princess to the hilarious Rat King, a variety of characters are a part of the show. 

When Tchaikovsky first composed “The Nutcracker” in 1892, his intended audience was simply the wealthy white population. 

In one of the dances in the second act, commonly called “Chinese” or “Tea”, the dance depicts Chinese culture in overly outdated and stereotypical features. The performers move in a way that is simply not representative of true traditional Chinese dance.

Many stereotypes include pointy fingers, bobbing steps, and exaggerated facial expressions.

Classical Chinese dance actually focuses more on circular motions, expressive arms, and grounded steps. These elements are not at all shown in the original Nutcracker choreographies.

An anonymous student at Los Osos High School said, “I have seen some of the local productions of ‘The Nutcracker’, and questioned why no one blinked an eye to this dance. It felt kind of like I was being mocked”. 

As Asian Americans who have been a part of this production multiple times and also danced traditional Chinese dance, “Chinese” or “Tea” has always confused us. 

Although our studio was always respectful, we have seen many versions online that are inconsiderate and completely unrepresentative of traditional Chinese dancing. 

Many other Asian American dancers have also spoken out about the discomfort of performing choreography that reduces their own culture to a stereotype.

This dance has been subject to intense controversy among the ballet world, and some companies have begun to move to revise their choreography. 

For example, the Scottish Ballet hired a Chinese choreographer to teach the dancers a more traditional and authentic fan dance that more accurately represents Chinese culture

Boston Ballet has also made changes, removing the head nodding and outdated finger gestures.

It is simple steps like these that will truly allow us to move forward. 

However, many companies have decided not to completely revise the choreography, opting to simply tweak the original choreography to not include the offensive gestures, which is also something we appreciate. 

We want to preserve the history of the production and of the choreography, but sometimes changes are needed; in this case, they are no longer acceptable. 

Junior Emily Wang from Los Osos High School said, “I haven’t watched many productions of the Nutcracker, but I feel like reanalyzing aspects of art is always important as we move forward”. 

As our world continues to evolve, so must the portrayal of Chinese dance in “The Nutcracker”. Updating the choreography would strengthen the integrity of the overall production and allow both audiences and dancers to learn accurate representations. 

Additionally, rather than distorting cultures, dancers can freely perform and celebrate traditions true to their culture.