San Francisco Ballet Nutcracker

Christmas Movie Traditions

I’ve realized this year that not only do I have a list of movies that I must watch every Christmas season, I also have traditions for when I need to watch some of them.

Every year, after we put up the Christmas tree, I have to watch White Christmas. It doesn’t matter if we put the tree up before Thanksgiving or after, but there’s something special about watching that movie while basking in the lights of the Christmas tree for the first time of the season. It really puts me in a great Christmas mood!

On Thanksgiving Day night, I almost always watch Holiday Inn. I almost missed it this year, because I was so tired from all of the work that it is Thanksgiving dinner, but I managed to stay awake until the end (more or less). This seems like the perfect movie to kick off the holidays, because not only does it have a lot of Christmas scenes/music, it also has a really good Thanksgiving scene.

When I’m wrapping Christmas presents, I always watch The Muppet Christmas Carol. Actually, I usually end up watching it twice by the time I’m done with all the gifts. I have no idea why that particular tradition started, but it wouldn’t seem like present night if I didn’t have it playing in the background. I especially like all of the songs!

On baking night, the movie of choice is National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. I usually need a little humor by the time I’m done baking dozens of cookies, and dipping various treats in chocolate. So, no matter how worn out I am by the task, I know that I’ll be laughing the whole time, even while realizing that I have more in common with Clark Griswold than any other character in the movie!

On Christmas Eve, after church, after we’ve had Jesus’s birthday cake, after the children are in bed and the presents are under the tree, Ryan and I always watch the San Francisco Ballet Nutcracker while playing some version of Ticket to Ride (usually “Nordic Countries”). He’s really very nice to put up with watching it yet again, since I’ll have watched it many, many times by Christmas Eve, but it just needs to be seen at least one more time on that night.

One last Christmas movie tradition is the yearly viewing of Die Hard. This movie doesn’t need to be watched on a certain day–instead, the tradition is the annual discussion Ryan and I have about whether or not Die Hard is a Christmas movie. He insists that it is; I say that explosions aren’t very Christmasy. But even that has become something I look forward to every year, so whether or not it’s a Christmas movie isn’t even important, it’s still one of our unique family traditions!

Why I’m Watching “The Nutcracker” in July

I do have a reason for why I put on the San Francisco Ballet Nutcracker last night. Really. And not because I’m celebrating Christmas in July, or because I’m trying to counteract the hot summer weather with thoughts of winter, (at least not entirely), or because I love Christmas so much that I want to celebrate it all year. No, it’s really much simpler than any of that.

You see, the Nutcracker is one of my favorite pieces of music. Not because it reminds me of Christmas. I just really like it. It’s just so beautiful; The Waltz of the Snowflakes–that’s what a snow shower sounds like! It also makes me happy, and relaxes me.

So, why didn’t I just put in the CD you might wonder? Because I do have it on CD. Well, the beautiful recording I have, (and it really is fantastically beautiful), is so long, that it’s split between two discs. So, my choice is to get up and change the disc if I want to hear the end, or miss out on the wonderful last part of the ballet. But the DVD has all of the music in one convenient disc. No decisions, no changing discs, just beautiful music, and, as a bonus, beautiful dancing.

So, you see, it really has nothing to do with the beautiful Christmas sets, or even the costumes. It’s a matter of practicality, really. Perfectly normal.

My Favorite Christmas Movies

I discovered this Christmas that there are five Christmas movies I can watch over and over again, and never tire of. Don’t get me wrong, I have watched many, many Christmas movies this year, and liked them all, but most of them I can watch once, maybe twice a year, and have my fill. Not my top five, though–they deserve multiple viewings!

  1. White Christmas–not just my favorite Christmas movie–one of my top five favorite movies, period!
  2. San Francisco Ballet Nutcracker–not technically a movie, but still one of my very favorite things to watch at Christmas.
  3. Elf–just so very, very funny.
  4. The Muppet Christmas Carol–I watched at least five versions of A Christmas Carol this year, and the Muppets are still, by far, my favorite. True to the original story, great music, plus…Muppets. What more can you ask for?
  5. Eloise at Christmastime–this is kind of a guilty pleasure, because it’s somewhat cheesy, and the production quality is pretty low. But for some reason, I find it absolutely charming, even if Eloise is the world’s naughtiest child!

I could probably cheat a bit, and add a TV program to my list–A Charlie Brown Christmas. I never tire of hearing Linus tell the Christmas story, and I love the music. Plus, I have to respect any animated special that doesn’t focus on (and in fact, barely mentions) Santa.

Review–St. Louis Ballet Nutcracker

I’ve been to about a half-dozen live performances of the Nutcracker in my lifetime, and seen many more on television. Now, I don’t think that makes me a ballet expert or anything, but it does mean I have some pretty strong opinions about the ballet and how it’s performed, and so I was very curious to see how the St. Louis Ballet’s version would measure up. In general, my main comparison is to the San Fransisco Ballet Nutcracker, which, even though I’ve never seen it performed live, is my favorite.

I will say that of all the live performances I *have* seen, I think the St. Louis Ballet has been my favorite. I will have to admit that the first time I saw the Nutcracker was over 20 years ago in downtown Chicago, so while it was most likely the highest quality production I’ve seen, it is also the fuzziest in my memory. But compared to the more recent performances I’ve seen live, the Saint Louis Ballet definitely gets my vote.

I loved the costuming of the Saint Louis Ballet. I’m guessing their budget isn’t as great as, say, the San Fransisco Ballet, and I think they did an excellent job with what they had. The snowflakes had my favorite costumes, especially the queen, whose white dress was accented with blue gems, and I also liked the purple Sugar Plum Fairy costume. I will say, I was not a fan of the Arabians costumes, particularly the man’s, as he was shirtless, and that seemed really out of place in a family performance.

I did not care for the narration that accompanied the performance. I don’t know if that’s a standard for the St. Louis Ballet, of it was something they added because it was a school performance, but I really don’t think it had any place in the ballet. The dancing should tell the story without using words, and I think even children can figure out what’s happening in the Nutcracker, without someone having to give a play-by-play. I found this especially disappointing because, if this was many of the children’s first introduction to the ballet, as is kind of the point of having the school performance, they totally missed the concept of letting the dancers tell the story through their movements.

My favorite part of this performance was the “Waltz of the Snowflakes.” In general, this is always one of my favorite parts of the Nutcracker, and the St. Louis Ballet was no exception. Between the beautiful costumes, and the dancing, I thought this was the highlight of the ballet.

The sets of the St. Louis Ballet were nothing spectacular, and were actually rather bland. Again, I realize the budget is probably pretty small, but they almost felt like something you would expect to see at a high school or college production, not the sets of a professional company. I found them to be pretty uninspiring, and they certainly didn’t add to my enjoyment of the performance.

I had mixed feelings about the Russian dance. They did a hoop dance, which may actually be more traditional to the Nutcracker than the Cossack dance, but I really prefer the Russian Cossack dance. This change of dance styles affected the costuming, which I also had mixed feelings about. The candy cane costumes were kind of charming, but they were covered in bells, which I found kind of fun and distracting at the same time. I never realized how much noise so many small bells could make when they’re all ringing together!

I did prefer the polinchelles in the St. Louis Ballet, even to those in the San Fransisco Ballet. Again, the costumes were charming–very colorful and fun. And the dance was also very playful and entertaining to watch. But, best of all, there was no Mother Ginger in this dance. For some reason, that’s the one, (and only!), thing in the San Fransisco Ballet Nutcracker that I don’t like. I much prefer the polinchelles on their own than accompanied by the giant circus tent skirted Mother Ginger.

I will say that the overall dancing in the ballet was a bit sloppy. The timing appeared to be off in many instances, and the quality of the dancing was second-rate compared to the San Fransisco Ballet. I guess I’m really comparing apples and oranges, but San Fransisco will always be what I use to measure other ballets, and in the end, as much as I enjoyed the St. Louis Ballet, it will never be as magical as the San Fransisco Ballet Nutcracker.

Christmas School–Day Thirteen

Today was Nutcracker Day! I have loved the Nutcracker since I was a little girl, so I’m always excited to find a way to work it into school.

We listened to a recording of  The Nutcracker on CD while we were doing our Language Arts, as well as while we were doing all of our Nutcracker activities. This is my favorite recording of the Nutcracker, plus the set also has the bonus Symphony Number 4 on it. All four children have really come to appreciate this score, and I love that they can get so excited about classical music!

I picked up another great Dover coloring book, the Nutcracker Ballet Coloring Book. I only got one copy this time, so Turkey and Bunny have to share, but there are so many different pictures, they can both find something they like. They proved how very stereotypical they are today, when I asked each of them what their favorite part of the Nutcracker is, so I could find a good picture for them to color. Turkey said the battle between the Mouse King and the Nutcracker, and Bunny, of course, said anything with the Sugar Plum Fairy. It was exactly what I expected them to say, and yet I was very amused at their responses.

We also read The Story of the Nutcracker Ballet. This isn’t a particularly fantastic version of the book, but it was cheap, and readily available, so it works. It’s also a good introduction to the basic story of the ballet, so it’s acceptable, just not great. I’m still on the lookout for the perfect print edition of the Nutcracker, the only problem is, I don’t know what that is yet. I’ll know it when I see it, though, so I’ll just keep looking.

Because we all love “The Waltz of the Snowflakes,” we made some pretty crystal-like snowflake ornaments to go with Nutcracker Day. I picked up this set at Hobby Lobby for 50% off, which is one of the main reasons it’s one of my favorite places to buy craft kits. Parts of this activity were a little difficult for Turkey and Bunny, but with a little help from their teacher, they were able to make several new ornaments for our tree.

We rounded out Nutcracker day by watching the San Francisco Ballet Nutcracker. I’ve talked about this before–to put it simply, this is the best version of the Nutcracker I’ve ever seen, live or recorded. I love it, the children love it, it’s just completely awesome. We can’t watch it often enough!

Review: San Francisco Ballet Nutcracker

I know I mentioned this production already in another post, but I thought it deserved it’s own review.  With all the different versions of the Nutcracker I’ve seen (both taped and live), this is, hands down, the best.  There are many things that set this apart from the other performances out there (particularly the popular Mikhail Baryshnikov production, which has superb execution by the aforementioned dancer, but lacks in other elements, such as the complete absence of the Sugar Plum Fairy, and the somewhat creepy portrayal of Drosselmeier), which make it both unique, and unbelievably beautiful.

First, the setting.  The choice to set it during the 1915 San Francisco World’s Fair is genius.  The time period isn’t too removed from the typical Victorian-era productions, but is different enough to give a totally new feel to the ballet.  And, with the ballet taking place in San Francisco, it was able to take advantage of both the beautiful “painted ladies” of that city in Clara’s victorian home, and the eye-catching pavilion from the Fair.

The costumes were also amazing.  Again, this is in part due to the early 20th century setting.  The dresses used in the first act were fresh and beautiful, and even the children’s clothing was different enough from typical productions to be noticeable.  And, the costumes in the second act were as beautiful as they always are, but also different and new (with the possible exception of the snowflakes and their queen, portrayed by the graceful Yuan Yuan Tan, who looked as traditional and wintry as one might hope). The colors used in the costumes from both acts were bold and attractive, and well-suited to being recorded.

The second act has always been my favorite part of the Nutcracker, and it was the same in this production.  The ladybugs, butterflies and dragonflies were adorable as they danced with the Sugar Plum Fairy.  And Vanessa Zahorian as the Sugar Plum Fairy was everything you would expect from that role–beautiful, kind, gracious and elegant.  The Chinese dance was especially delightful, especially with the addition of a very playful dragon.  The French Mirlitons were also enchanting, incorporating rhythmic gymnastics style ribbons into their dance.

The true genius of this particular performance, in my opinion, came near the end.  This production took Clara’s dream to the natural conclusion–not only did she dream her nutcracker a live prince (who was portrayed by Davit Karapetyan), she also saw herself transformed into an adult, able to dance with him.  So, instead of the pas de deux  being danced by the Sugar Plum Fairy and Prince, it was danced instead by Clara and her Prince. Now, the child Clara still may not have much of an actual role in the dancing, but the character of Clara at least gets more time, and more complex dances.  Maria Kochetkova was an excellent choice to play the adult Clara, capturing much of the innocence and sweetness that Elizabeth Powell brings to the child Clara character.

I would love to see this become the standard for Nutcracker performances.  I hope PBS (which is where I first become aware of this production in December) will continue to air this every year at Christmastime, as their choice of the best production of the Nutcracker out there.  Hopefully more people will begin to purchase this DVD from stores like Amazon, as well–I find this version to be much more child-friendly than the currently highest rated Baryshnikov production, which is not aging too well (mainly due to 70’s hairstyles and poor costuming choices).

I have to say, this production re-awakened a love for the Nutcracker that I had all but forgotten I had.