Nutcracker Time

...Again...

Ah, ‘tis the season. Sigh.

Photo by Irina Rybcko on Unsplash

Coming up as a dancer, I performed in ten years of Nutcracker, taking on almost every role in the 2nd act, starting with the Russian (boots not pointe shoes), moving up to the Mirlitons (on pointe, yay), the DewDrop Fairy in “Waltz of the Flowers,” the Snow Queen (my first big pas de deux) and finally the Sugar Plum (picture below). I wasn’t really suited to the delicate Sugar Plum, but the DewDrop with its leaps and flair? Totally me.

Me as Sugar Plum with Charles Garth

The thing is, after ten years, the ballet lost its charm. It makes a lot of money for ballet companies, but the dancers themselves tend to call it “Nuts.”

My husband knows my feelings. After Halloween, the first time we hear “March of the Toy Soldiers” in an elevator or a mall, he nudges me and grins. I grin and bear it.

Sadly, the snow scene that ends the first act is not well known. The music paints the very picture of a swirling storm. At the end, as the children’s choir sings, a “snow cradle” high in the flies rocks back and forth, sending little (slippery) plastic flakes onto the stage. Happily, by that time the full-out dancing is over, and we’d be moving into final poses.

So take your children and introduce them to ballet. Let the lights and music dazzle them, turn them into ballet goers. I still love ballet - at its best it expresses the intangible through motion. But now I’m a writer and during Nutcracker season, I’ll just stay home with a book!