The Nutcracka! (Because it is the whitest thing ever.)

Of course I can't sleep on Christmas Eve. Sleeping on Christmas Eve, for me, is like Tom Selleck without a mustache - unimaginable. 

Pretend he didn't have it. I dare you.

So here I am in my bed, wide awake. I am going to write up a new post. 

On Wednesday my lovely GF and I went down to Toronto to the National Ballet's Nutcracker at the Four Seasons Centre. The tickets were her gift to me and I had blast (I am capable of having a blast at a ballet). Talk about shattering 50's gender stereotypes. I am breaking the mold. Anyway, I had a wonderful time and I was very appreciative of the gift. 

I saw the same production of the Nutcracker a few years ago and I was quite unimpressed, but this time around I enjoyed it immensely. I suppose in the period between my viewings my appreciation for ballet has increased, but I can't say if there was any definite thing that made the difference between my viewings of the performances. 

First of all, I was impressed with the visuals. The sets were lavish and ornate where they needed to be and were similarly sparse at the appropriate moments. Far more impressive than the sets and costumes, however, were the dancers. I had previously read up on basic ballet technique before a recent trip to New York where I attended the ballet there, and I truly gained an appreciation for the dancers. Every single movement seems absolutely effortless, but realistically these ballerinas and ballerinos are performing superhuman feats on stage, EVERY NIGHT. The principal dancers were incredible - all the solo numbers and duets were absolutely beautiful - but the numbers with the full chorus of dancers were wonderful too. I really enjoy seeing the mass of movement in the synchronized dancers. Also, stereotypical ballerina costumes are the best and I love them.

See? Beautiful.

But enough about the visuals, let us speak now of the music. Really, there is no ballet music more beautiful than Tchaikovsky's. Disagree? Shut up. Obviously he is the most prominent ballet composer, but he is so for a reason. People always want to avoid conforming to widely accepted views in music, art, &c., but sometimes these widely accepted views exist for very, very good reasons. Case in point : TCHAIKOVSKY IS THE F******* BEST AT BALLET. He only wrote three, and all of them at once epitomize ballet composition, in my opinion. Naturally, I was in rapture. I cherished all of the music, but certain moments in particular were quite affecting.

The Dance of the Snowflakes was gorgeous - the setting was a forest of birches covered in snow, and the dancers were costumed as fragile snowflakes. Though visually stunning, it was the music here that I really took in. My favourite ever (in this particular scene) is when the voices come in and sing their little melody. Overall the scene was delightful indeed. Here is a Youtube clip of a different production to check it out.



For a second selection, I have chosen the pas de deux from Act II. This scene was quite profound - the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Prince, both portrayed by accomplished dancers, perform an incredible dance atop Tchaikovsky's pensive, wistful score. I especially love the descending scale over the harp line. Here:



Wednesday was an absolutely enjoyable cultural evening and I hope to enjoy a similar evening in the near future (not going to happen).