(I've not updated this thing in forever, so I suppose it's time I got on that.)
For Christmas this year, all I wanted was to go to the Nutcracker Ballet. My experience going with my parents as a little girl was magical—I remember the beautiful theater in Richmond and the enchanting dances and costumes on stage. I took ballet from elementary through my senior year in high school, but we never had a proper dance studio in my rural town. Still, I absolutely loved learning ballet and sometimes wish I'd had the opportunity to be more of a serious dancer. I loved the preparation and excitement leading up to the final recital—past recitals include Oklahoma!, the Wizard of Oz, and Cats. (Other recitals were comprised of dances with a broad theme, such as the seasons and numbers from musicals.) My dad remembers that when I was in elementary school, I said very passionately to a fellow team member at t-ball practice, "Ballet is so much more important than t-ball!" (He knew at that moment that I would never be into sports like so many of my other friends who stuck with t-ball and eventually came to live, breathe, and eat softball.)
Even though (or perhaps because?) I haven't danced since high school, I was especially looking forward to the Nutcracker Ballet. My sisters and I got all dolled up in heels and dresses to go to the Carpenter Center in Richmond. Once inside, the sound of the Richmond Symphony tuning instruments and the ceiling painted as the night sky (complete with lights flickering like twinkling stars!) helped recreate the magic of my experience as a child. I loved every second of the show, from the opening dances at the Christmas party to Clara's somewhat frightening magician godfather, "Uncle" Drosselmeyer to the Nutcracker battling the mice to the woman with the massive dress from which children emerge to the Sugarplum fairy's costume with billowing wings to the Russian dancers with the bear to the end when Clara awakes in front of the Christmas tree and thrusts the Nutcracker high above her head on the very dramatic final note. I think that my favorite of all scenes is the one in which Clara and Uncle Drosselmeyer dance alone in front of the Christmas tree, and it suddenly begins to grow bigger and bigger as Clara shrinks down to the size of her nutcracker. My favorite piece of music is the Waltz of the Snowflakes—the vocals are enchanting. My heart sings when I hear it!
Experiencing a variety of emotions throughout the performance (even tearing up in some parts), I couldn't help but peer around me in the dark to look at the faces of other people in the audience. Were they also having intense emotional reactions to the performance? What drew them to the Nutcracker ballet—were they former dancers? Current ones? Were they trying to please the grandkids who came to visit for Christmas? Was the Nutcracker ballet a Christmas tradition, or were they experiencing the ballet for the first time? Were they, too, trying to recreate some previously experienced "magic"? I love imagining how other people engage with performances—it's kind of my form of people watching. The Nutcracker Ballet was, by far, my best Christmas present this year!
