Nutcracker

Steve pulled the ultimate awesome move and got tickets the San Francisco Nutcracker for my Christmas gift.  It wasn't even on my radar, but he learned about their family nights, which area geared toward (yep, you guessed it) families with toys given to the children, the dancers available for photos before the show, and free goodies at intermission.  It's a brilliant tactic on the part of the Ballet to steer all the families to the same shows.

It turned out our neighbors got tickets for the same night (the mom is also a former dancer).  How the men got onto the subject of going to the Nutcracker when they bumped into each other on the bus, I'm still dying to know.  

I was a little nervous that Grace would be too young to sit still and enjoy the performance, but we read the story in a few books in the preceding weeks and tried so very hard to convince her that she couldn't ask questions during the show (maybe cut them down to every minute rather than every thirty seconds).  We got lucky, and ran into our friend who works for the Ballet that morning, and she gave Grace the full run-down on what to expect (climbing lots of stairs to the balcony, the rule of going to the bathroom before the show, covering your ears for the canon, etc.).  It was excellent because I think Grace understood the ground rules much better than if we had tried to tell her.

So, the SF Opera House is beautiful!  It was so fun to see so many families with children all excited and dressed up.  Despite it being an evening show on a Sunday night, Grace did really well.  It helped that she had Mia to goof off with before the show and at intermission to get some sillies out.  She was thrilled by the dancers before the show and really seemed captivated throughout the performance.  She got a little bored during the pas de deux, but perked up again for the finale.  She said her favorite parts were the battle and the end when Clara wakes from her dream and runs up the stairs into her mother's waiting arms (cue "awwww").  We've been dancing a lot of Nutcracker since then, and found the Barishnikov/Gelsey Kirkland version online, which she has been enjoying.

I was in heaven, too.  The dancing was beautiful, and as soon as the music started, I could hardly keep myself from getting up to dance.  Muscle memory is a powerful thing!  The production was wonderful - terrific sets, and I always enjoy seeing different staging and interpretations.  Snow was gorgeous, and the Snow Queen as well as the grown Clara did fouetes that brought tears to my eyes.  Even Steve enjoyed it (the first time he'd been to the ballet), and said that we will go again with baby brother one day.  What a fabulous treat! 

City Hall all lit up for the holidays.

Waiting for the doors to open. 

 Future stars (I think this is modern, though).

Fifth position. 

Soloist.

With part of the cast. 

Again.