The Nutcracker

I took Miranda to the Nutcracker today with some twin mom friends. I haven't seen it in about 20 years (give or take) and I was little apprehensive to go to one. Having had such an intimate relationship with the nutcracker for so many years, I have a hard time seeing one without being either judgemental or depressed. But my friends were going and picked a super rinky-dink version so I figured I could avoid either reaction.

And in general, I did. This was a tiny little production in community theatre in Walnut Creek. Taped music, skipped music, no male dances, but a few kids, terrible teenage dancers, and almost no sets. Including no growing tree.

Miranda loved it. She was entranced the entire time until about the last 10 minutes or so. Which is totally understandable if you know anything about the second act of the Nutcracker. She loved the nutcracker, all the kids running around, the mice, the snow flakes and everything else. And she was a very good audience member never talking over a whisper or kicking the chair in front of her which is more than I can say for a lot of the kids there.

About 15 minutes in, I found myself tearing up at the part when Clara gets the nutcracker. Not at the cute kids, not at the story, but I guess because I couldn't hear the music and not think about when I was in it. The choreography for each part was rushing through my brain like I did it yesterday. As if I was still 8 years old and on stage at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. I occasionally got my versions (LA Ballet and Westside Ballet) confused and got thrown off a few times when they skipped large chunks of music.

All in all, a successful afternoon and a nice stroll down memory lane.