On the 10th day of Christmas…

The Ballet

This time of year is known for many seasonal productions: musicals, plays, music concerts, and, my personal favorite, the ballet. Ballets do occur all throughout the year. However, one ballet in particular is a staple in this holiday season: The Nutcracker.

Even people who have never actually seen The Nutcracker live in a grand theater are well aware of the music. There’s the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the March.

This music can be found anywhere and in any arrangement and played by any orchestra. However, the music isn’t quite the same when unaccompanied by the beautiful sight that is a trained ballerina playing the part of young Clara with her wooden Nutcracker.

And what ‘Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy’ would be complete without a tall, graceful, well-accomplished ballerina moving in time with the flutes in the music?

When it comes right down to it, there is nothing quite like watching and hearing all the pieces of a performance come together to build one of the most well-known stories of the holiday season. It’s why in the future, I hope to start a holiday tradition of my own. The only thing required is a seat to the yearly performance of The Nutcracker where I can sit and be amazed by the pure skill and dedication these dancers, musicians, costume makers, directors, and everyone else, have when it comes to bringing a holiday classic to life.

Movies To Watch 1) The Santa Claus 2) Unaccompanied Minor 3) How the Grinch Stole Christmas 4) Scrooged 5) Love Actually 6) Home Alone 7) Home Alone 2 8) Nothing Like the Holidays 9) The Holiday 10) Rise of The Guardians 11) Rudolph, The Red-nosed Reindeer 12) Frosty, The Snowman

Activities To Do 1) Decorate the Tree 2) Make Cookies 3) Build a Gingerbread House 4) Visit Christkindlmarkt 5) Ice Skating 6) Hot Cocoa by the Fireplace 7) Build a Snowman 8) Snowball Fight 9) Complete Holiday Puzzle 10) Read ‘A Christmas Carol’ 11) Christmas Party 12) Participate in Secret Santa

Have you seen the Nutcracker? Did you enjoy it? Would seeing it every year be something you’d like to make a holiday tradition?