Has anyone gone to see a live performance of The Nutcracker (ballet) this holiday season? I haven't, but my son is interested in seeing a live performance sometime. I've played in the pit for The Nutcracker many years ago; did something like 6 seasons with 50+ performances in all. We've been listening to the The Nutcracker Suite around the house this year, so I've been telling my son the story ... and of course playing all the percussion parts (via air-tambourine, air-triangle, etc.) which are forever implanted in my brain. We even do a little conducting ... and just have a blast.

To be honest, I don't have a lot of interest in seeing it since I've played it so much ... and it doesn't matter who may be dancing. I enjoy playing more than just watching/listening. That's somewhat unfortunate I guess ... but with my son's interest, I would probably be willing to subject myself to just spectating. 

I haven't seen or played the Nutcracker in a long time....Have fun! It's going to drive you nuts to be watching instead of playing it.   

we are going next week. i agree it can be tedious, but it's also beautiful, and exciting seeing who the new young dancers are. sometimes they have an abbreviated performance [usually matinee], so maybe that's an option?

i actually went to the radio city christmas spectacular monday night, which i haven't done in...oh, 35 years. it was great. they really tightened up the performance, and ya gotta love those high-kickin' rockettes [though i still think they kicked higher back in the day. mmm. maybe i was just lots shorter]. what really captivated me was the variety of sets and new costumes, the visual depth of field created, and how quickly and seamlessly they orchestrated it all. they added this semi-doofy 3-D component in the upfront section, but the 'white christmas' scene was lovely. i don't know how the orchestra does it -- their stage was moved around throughout the performance, and it looked quite dark down there at times. seemed challenging. 

hafta say, i'm definitely getting into the spirit. if you streamline your shopping list, buy early, and keep the festivities/baking simple, you get a lot more opportunity to actually kick back and enjoy the season. the only stressor i encountered was the post office this morning, but i still got out in under 40 minutes.

go see the show, bart. i think your son will love it!

Hi All, This is my first post, but I was attracted by the conversation on the Nutcracker. I've also played it for many seasons but I wanted to offer some info about ballet and dance in general.

I was never into dance when I was younger, but once my two daughters started dancing when they were young, I was the typical dad... driving them to lessons, rehearsals, performances. All in all, I grew to respect dance as an art form that is actually closely related to music. There's form, balance, design, dynamics, quality of movements, great physical skill in the performance, stage design, etc. etc. When you watch a great dancer live, it's not much different than watching/listening to a great musician.

My oldest daughter has now become a professional dancer and teacher, and we share teaching concepts all the time. My youngest daughter is now a painter and all her works have some sort of figurative work that resembles the human body - even in her most non-representational work. I believe that the family's appreciation of the art form of dance has had a very positive impact on all  of our lives.

My dos centavos
Norm