My Little Polichinelle (aka Baby Buffoon)

This is a recent Nutcracker rehearsal for Little Bit as a baby buffoon AKA polichenelle. It is so adorable to see these little gals dancing. The baby buffoons come out during Clara's dream sequence. Little Bit will be the one in the long-sleeved white body suit closest to the camera.

I found a really neat little study sheet for kids watching the Nutcracker at the Ballet Theatre of Lancaster. According to that study sheet a Polichinelle (pronounced: poe LEE shee nell) is a French word that literally translated means "Punch," the Punch of the English puppet duo, Punch and Judy. They were the original comedy act, created in the 1700s. These puppets' loud arguments escalated into fights in which they hit and punched each other. Here, "polichinelles" means buffoons, or comic characters. In the Donetsk version of The Nutcracker, the Polichinelles are tiny, active characters who disrupt the more dignified dances of the dolls in the Land of Sweets. Mother Ginger has to gather them up and take them away before they get into trouble. Yep, that pretty much sums up my daughter. :) I literally had tears in my eyes watching her. Funny how proud a mom can be over the simplest of things.