Interesting! I used to dance until I hurt myself (a lot). One thing I would say is that I think there's a difference between ballet as an art form and the particular ballet you saw, in terms of gendered expectations for boys/girls, and genderqueer elements.

Either danseur or ballerino (French or Italian).

I'm sure the women could probably do lifts (not sure how much upper body strength training they do though). The problem is that the margin of error is much less. The women weigh about 115, the men (guessing here) probably weigh 180-200. That's a lot more weight on a body that, by default, doesn't have as much strength up top.

Numbers 3, 4, and 5; That's just something that comes as baggage with works of art. I'd be happier if Lovecraft's stories weren't so chock full of raging racism and xenophobia, but it's just one of those things. I just keep in mind that the more recent stuff isn't so borked.

You should consider watching The Hard Nut instead, it takes the nutcracker and changes it in a way that should make you feel a bit better about ballet. The dancers are both male and female, and many of the lead characters genders are swapped. I used to watch it as a kid so my memory is a bit fuzzy but I know it is certainly worth the watch!

These days I prefer modern dance performances. It's not too hard to find highly talented productions (at lease near DC, tho' I'll admit this area may be exceptional in that respect) and there's more likely to be an exploration of gender, race, sexuality, national identity, individual identity, etc.

As a feminist and former ballerina, I feel the need to offer ballet some defense. (Although I will make no defense for the Nutcracker in particular: I think that the Nutcracker epitomizes all that is wrong with American ballet.)

As a classical form, historical ballets do showcase antiquated ideals of gender relations and many of the story ballets are romantic drivel not to my taste. Unfortunately in a country like the US without as strong of a ballet base, modern companies make most of their money with the annual Nutcracker performances and other fairytale story ballets. But this is just a reflection of an American taste for these stories; not a reflection of ballet as an artform or of popular fare for ballet companies in other parts of the world.

But throughout the ballet world, most pas de deux focus on the strength and artistry of the female dancer, frequently relegating the male dancer to the role of stage prop. After centuries of seeing only male performers on the stage (think boys playing women in Shakespeare, gender inequality in music, etc) ballet is revolutionary for showcasing women's athleticism and artistry. Only women are allowed to dance the difficult pieces en pointe.

Now we can argue against any gender roles; and this is appropriately the role of modern dance which frequently choreographs around the absurdity of traditional gender roles. As a modern dancer with the traditional 100 lb frame of a ballerina, I was usually asked to lift men and women 30-70 lbs heavier than myself specifically for the spectacle of the more 'feminine' dancer doing the heavy lifting.

And in my classes, the female roles and style of dancing is usually the preferred role with male dancers taking outside classes to practice en pointe. (Believe me,they get bored with those manly prince walks while the women do burres.)

I think that ballet is an excellent art form for re-examining classic gender roles as well as celebrating female athleticism. If you want to see some of that gender-bending, check out the Ballet Trockadero which is an all-male troupe performing classical fairytale ballets en pointe. They always choose the hairiest, most barrel-chested man to play the swan princess in a feathery tutu.

As another classically trained former ballerina (who does not fit into the ballet mold very well, considering I'm 5'11" and curvy). I can safely say that I would be happy never hearing a note from the Nutcracker ever again. Isn't it time they made a new Christmas ballet?

Classical ballet is pretty conservative. Aside from the very strict and structured moves, most famous ballets were written long ago, and adhere to old gender roles. Practically every role is meant for either a man or a woman, not either/or, with the women en pointe. Pointe is meant to portray a light, angelic (read: feminine) quality. Never mind how pointe destroys feet (I will likely need surgery at some point to fix the bunions which formed during my pointe years).

I've also done a number of lifts in modern dances, however, I think it could be difficult to find many women who could lift somebody high above their heads, the way many men do in ballet. Women's center of gravity tends to be in the hips whereas men's tends to be in the chest. Lifting someone that high up has a risk of losing one's balance, which tends to happen less than with men because their center of mass isn't as far away from the extra weight. Also, thus far, women aren't trained to have as much upper body strength in classical ballet, mostly because it's not really needed. Ballerina's already need a ton of training to strengthen their legs and core muscles, upper body strength doesn't get much focus. It's kind of a chicken and egg story. Women don't train to do lifts, and would probably have trouble with some of the harder ones. Since they can't do lifts, they aren't ever given them in choreography and, thus don't train for them.
The lifts I've done usually have most of the other dancers weight lifted by my shoulder and core muscles, which are already pretty strong from the general training.

Also Nutcracker has a lot of versions. I've only seen the dances called "hot chocolate","coffee", etc once. Usually they're just call Spanish, Chinese, Arabian, Russian and Marzipan. Of course, there is plenty of racial stereotyping in those dances; especially Chinese, like you mentioned, but it's usually at least without the added identification with stereotypical food.

I've also been in versions of Nutcracker where the party scene didn't have as much of a "boys vs girls" atmosphere, other than Clara's obnoxious older brother who is usually the one who breaks the nutcracker toy. They don't always give all the little girls dolls either, other than the Nutcracker which usually goes to Clara, but I've also seen it as a present to a little boy who is a friend of Clara's.
Also, I've seen a version of the battle where the Nutcracker was about to get his ass kicked when Clara grabbed a sword from one of the toy soldiers and killed the rat king.

It sounds like the version you saw was pretty bad with the stereotypes, but it isn't always that way. Other than the basic story made up of: Party Scene, Battle, Variations, Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier; the nutcracker can be varied a lot in details.

I have to agree with mobull and MLEmac28, and say that this critique has to be taken with a grain of salt considering it's based on a 19th century story. While I would say you saw a traditional rendition of the show, there are variations where gender is less poignant.

In the competition ballet company I was in during high school, we didn't have boys, so we did lifts on our own! And in other styles of dance, particularly modern and contemporary jazz, any person can do the lifting. Overall, I think the Nutcracker is outdated (and overrated).

In regard to male dancers, there is the St. Petersburg National Male Ballet (I think they were featured on Bravo a few years ago). They wear tutus, pointe shoes, and switch up the normally divided dance roles. They are really awesome.