6 ‘Must Do’ Steps When Introducing The Nutcracker Ballet To Teens
See below for a Free Printable Pack to go with the post.
Many homeschool moms I know often introduce their kids to the Nutcracker ballet at a very young age, but fail to think of it as something that would also be useful and fun for their teenagers.
Yes, I know that the Nutcracker on the surface may not seem like something that your teenagers will be interested in.
However, if you are serious about getting your teenagers into music appreciation, then the Nutcracker is a ‘must not be missed’ ballet.
Yes, I can see how you are all mystified about how to keep your teens engaged, so please take a few moments and read through this post.
Here I focus specifically on teens and how they can use this Tchaikovsky classic to learn some extremely advanced aspects of music appreciation.
I have even included age appropriate worksheets to enable your teens to take their learning to the next level.
Watch And Learn
Of course the first step would be to watch the Nutcracker ballet.
Watching a live performance would be the best, but who are we kidding? Given the budget constraints and other safety issues involved, at this point in time, it may not be the best option.
Find a version on YouTube that they can watch and have them learn the storyline as well.
This is very important for the next few activities.
Critically Analyse
Once they’ve watched the ballet in full and learned the storyline, they can move to the critical analysis stage.
Here, ask your teen to select a single movement and critically analyse the movement in the way that it portrayed the mood, the instruments used, the harmonization and so on.
Your teen doesn’t have to stop with a single a movement and can repeat this activity with several movements.
Discuss And Change
This one is a bit more complex.
Ask your teen to use one of the movements selected for the previous activity or select a new one and discuss what changes he would make, if he was the composer.
For instance would he use different instruments?
Would he change the pace and pitch or any other dynamics?
Why or why not?
Compare And Contrast
Tchaikovsky composed other ballets besides the Nutcracker.
Ask your teenager to select another one of Tchaikovsky’s ballets and compare and contrast it with the Nutcracker in terms of elements such as the storyline, mood, instruments, movements, etc.
Don’t forget to download the printables I made available, especially for this purpose.
Research
Your teenager should also carry out an in-depth research study of the life and work of Tchaikovsky, the musical era that he lived in and the influential part he played in music of that era.
Furthermore, selecting and carrying out an in-depth research study of an instrument used in the ballet would also be very beneficial at this stage.
Discuss Instruments Featured
Last but not least, studying the different instruments that were used in the different movements and how they contributed to the mood and context of each movement, would definitely help your teenager take his learning to the next level.
Now that you’ve read through this post, what do you think?
Karen Cadera
Founder/Creator
Mom, Teacher, Minimalist, Zero Waste Enthusiast, Multi Pod.
My daughter loved the games, but there were also worksheets and videos. The weekly lesson plans were complete, and I never questioned what I should be doing next.
This program reminded me (and allowed me to teach my son) how to read music. To me, that was the most important thing that we learned together. Of course, it was very rewarding for me to watch my son play the piano with both hands at the same time, while reading sheet music. His favorite parts of the course were actually playing the songs and doing the worksheets provided.
Download the FREE Nutcracker Ballet Worksheets
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