The Nutcracker

Ms. Crazy Preschooler and I went to the Nutcracker tonight. I invited Dr. Pediatrician, but he firmly declined. The year I was expecting Ms. Crazy Preschooler, he surprised me with tickets to the Nutcracker in Grand Forks because I had never been to the ballet and always wanted to go. And he's a pretty good sport about cultural events. I loved the ballet. He hated the ballet. He still cringes every time I mention it. He just felt there was no purpose and ended up staring at the statues along the wall instead of watching the dancers.

This local production of the Nutcracker was less professional that the last local production ( I think in Grand Forks they had flown in some really important ballerinas that year), but I think I might have enjoyed it even more because several of my piano students were dancing, and it was so fun to watch them, their faces all lit up and excited to be dancing. All of the dancers just seemed to be in their element even though their feet might not have been quite as fancy. The little girl who danced the role of Clara was the best a Clara could possibly be, I think. I just wanted to squeeze that little girl! She was adorable and animated. My favorite part in both performances has been the snowflake scene.

Ms. Crazy Preschooler was mesmerized by the performance, absorbing everything she saw, and she actually saw a lot of things that I happened to miss.