Contemporary Repetitions

This chapter argues for a new reading of The Nutcracker as a repeating feature in contemporary ballet culture. Although the history of The Nutcracker has been told again and again, an investigation of its reappearances year after year has not. This chapter opens that dialogue by considering the ongoing circulation of The Nutcracker in order to present an argument that its repetitions matter as a rhetorical and contemporary phenomenon. The chapter examines works by Maurice Béjart, Matthew Bourne, Mark Morris, and Christopher Wheeldon to investigate the rhetoric in The Nutcracker’s reworkings. This way of reading The Nutcracker suggests that the rhetorical potential of contemporary culture grows from the remaking and reperformance of familiar forms.