Cultural (mis)representation in The Nutcracker

There is a longstanding tradition in western ballet costume design which incorporates the stereotypical in ‘other’ culture. Designers often perpetuate stereotypical generalisations within their costume practices in order to represent these cultures on the stage. While it is a widely recognised issue within ballet design, some designs have been retired and others have been allowed to continue to dominate the largest stages in Europe. This paper will focus on the design for the Royal Ballet’s The Nutcracker seeking to uncover the origins of and justifications for the design, particularly those costumes used in the ‘Arabian’ and ‘Chinese’ dances in the second act, along with the modifications Covent Garden has imposed in order to attempt to make the designs and dances more appropriate for modern audiences. The Nutcracker, most recently designed by Julia Trevelyan Oman, includes these culturally insensitive costumes, building on aesthetic stereotypes, reflected additionally within the music. Though these are a smaller part of the performance, they have become increasingly scrutinised, and most recently have been adapted to lessen the offence caused by their presence on stage, though these adaptations are limited. Why, when many ballets are now retired for their culturally insensitive representations in narrative and costume, such as La Bayadere, does the largest ballet, synonymous with the Royal Opera House in London, include reductive representations of other cultures? What role will the misrepresentation of people have in the current, continuing decline of traditional ballet, and would a redesign serve to rectify the issues present currently?