Well, the holiday season is officially here. To celebrate, I, along with some ladies from a non-profit that I volunteer with, saw The Pacific Northwest Ballet’s presentation of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker.
I love the ballet. I took ballet as a child and until I realized I wasn’t as graceful or flexible as I had thought I was, I wanted to be a ballerina. I love tutus and buns and hearing the clattering sounds that pointe shoes make on the stage.
The last time I saw the PNB perform the Nutcracker was in 2014, when the scenes and costumes were designed by Maurice Sendak. Since then, there is a new version of the ballet. The sets are designed by children’s author and illustrator Ian Falconer and includes Winter Star, an art piece from Dale Chihuly’s Chandelier series, which shows up as the Christmas star at the end of Act I.
The ballet starts off a little different than I remembered as it begins with a video projected onto the screen. As the orchestra plays the Miniature Overture, the camera flies through snowy woods and through a picturesque town until it arrives at a house. The front door is pushed open by a group of mice and there, the live ballet begins with Clara and her brother peeping through the door, trying to get a glimpse of the magical Christmas tree.
I can’t say enough great things about the performance. Herr Drosselmeier was fun and wasn’t the creepy version that you sometimes see. The battle between the mice and soldiers was amusing and the seven-headed Mouse King had a good death. I had forgotten that almost the entire first act was the party scene and mouse/nutcracker battle – I kept wondering where the Sugar Plum Fairy was. Then I remembered that the Sugar Plum Fairy and all of the dancers from the Land of Sweets don’t show up until Act II.
All of the dancers were brilliant, especially the Sugar Plum Fairy (of course), Dewdrop, and Candy Cane – the way that he could jump and twirl that hula hoop was spectacular. The orchestra was excellent and I found myself humming along to much of the music.
Of course, part of what made the night so fun was the great group of ladies I attended with. We got to the show early so we could explore the hall decorations and take advantage of the concessions. Along with drinks, there were cupcakes and these adorable mouse king cookies. Did you know you can pre-order intermission drinks and food and they will be ready when you come out of the theater? I highly recommend doing this – it saves a lot of time and you don’t have to wait in line.
It was an amazing show.
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