The Nutcracker Part Deux

Another of my Nutcracker books

Along with my love for the story of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, I  have also come to love The Nutcracker Ballet and, in particular, the Atlanta’s Ballet’s Nutcracker. 

Ballet program from  2004

My daughter and I attended our first performance when she was 5.  We then attended every other year (tickets can be expensive and her attention span was short) for several years.

She took 4 or 5 years of ballet lessons with her objective  to be cast as a party child in the performance's opening scene. 

Here she is at age 5, practicing her dance moves

 

And then she was 10,  and also 11,  she was cast in one of those roles.  (I am sad to say I didn't do a particularly good job of  photographically preserving those memories).

However, even with weeks of Saturday and Sunday practices, dress rehearsals, drives downtown from our suburban home and eventually 5 - 7 shows (most of which I attended) spread over a few hectic holiday weeks (perhaps explaining the dearth of photos), my love for the story and its theatrics only intensified.

The kindness of the professional dancers to the children and beauty of the costumes and sets only enhanced my adoration for the story and performance. 

Granted the location for the production, Atlanta’s Fox Theatre is, in itself, magnificent. This setting  for The Nutcracker is truly magical.

I don’t think we’ve missed a show in the last five years.  If counted, we’ve probably seen it more than 25 times.  Still,  my daughter and I enjoy anticipating our date to the ballet. We never tire of  Tchaikovsky’s beautiful compositions, the tale which draws us in and the dancers’ artistry.