A Nutcracker Book Club reading list!

 

Happy Friday everyone! I hope that your week went well, I know that it's not exactly easy to keep thinking happy thoughts right now. But we persevere! My teaching has wound down, and I had my last scheduled class of the semester on Wednesday with an evening one that ran until 9:30 pm. There are many more evening classes this semester with most things being remote, which is not my preferred timeslot, but I do what I can to help out. I'm relieved that that is all done for now, and am turning my attention back to things that I've been neglecting since this busy streak began. Some of that is dance, which I'll circle back to next week. And some of that is generally time to mentally and emotionally recharge. And being the dancer/reader/nerd that I am, I do that by watching and reading about The Nutcracker. 😂

I've mentioned a number of times how attached I am to the seasonal tradition of going to see a Nutcracker performance with my mom, and with whomever amongst my kids are willing to go. This year, obviously, there will be no live performances, and I've been preparing myself for this reality for months. In anticipation, I gathered up my Nutcracker collection on DVD, and planned a Nutcracker day in which I watched multiple productions of The Nutcracker while knitting and consuming much coffee and breakfast food. This week, I watched the Pacific Northwest Ballet (which has a unique set design constructed by Maurice Sendak of "Little Bear" renown) and the American Ballet Theater rendition, performed by the iconic pairing of Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gelsey Kirkland. It was a DELIGHT. I was able to compare and contrast the artistic interpretations within each and generally nerd out on ballet stuff. It inspired me so much that I have the Bolshoi Ballet and New York City Ballet versions lined up to procure from the public library so that I can have another Nutcracker day next week!

This all sparked my curiosity so much that I did some research on the history of The Nutcracker, and now have a little book club reading list set up for myself that I have already embarked on. *halo* Maybe you'd like to join in!

First off, I simply knew that I was remiss in never having read the original "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" by EFA Hoffmann. I knew that the story was a bit darker than what ended up being portrayed in the ballet version, but I think I'm up to the challenge! *virtual fist bump* This book is currently on the way to me from Amazon; it contains the original illustrations, and I knew the Kindle version would not do it justice. I am SO EXCITED!

Next up is this gem, and I've had it on my Kindle forever without making it past the first chapter due to Christmas cozy fiction distractions at the critical time of year. This year, it has zoomed up in my queue, and I cannot wait to dive in! This is about the history soley of The Nutcracker, rather than focusing on ballet history more generally. How perfect is that?! This is pretty much the textbook of our little book club. 😁

This one is a re-read, but definitely a delight. It's written in a more accessible memoir style (whereas "Nutcracker Nation" is more academic) and the enthusiasm of the author for all things Nutcracker and ballet -related is infectious. It's a fun one to read just before Nutcracker season. And right now, it is only $1.99 for the Kindle version!

I hope that this list gives you some fun seasonal ideas if you've always enjoyed The Nutcracker as much as I have! It has give me a much needed lift towards the end of this difficult year.

Speaking of, since the pandemic started, I've started taking ballet classes on Zoom, and I have to say...it's HARD, much, much harder than what I remember from when I was a kid! 😂And so, as I was re-reading "Raising the Barre" and the author mentions putting off re-starting ballet classes, favoring fitness classes to focus on getting in shape prior to doing so, I held my breath a bit for her, because in my experience the years of lessons many years before as a child does not really give you a leg up on dancing ballet 30+ years hence. But maybe that's just me. 😆 I have been enjoying the challenge *tremendously* though. Some (though not all) forms of dance feel very natural to me, and this includes ballet, but it's a full mind and body experience that a body past a certain age may find a bit vexing. :-0 But very worth it for the increased flexibility I'm noticing in my feet, and the focus on posture and connection to the floor that translates perfect to my Middle Eastern dance. I'm definitely in love!

Who else is a fellow Nutcracker fan out there? Or do you have other Christmas or winter related books to add to our reading list? Perhaps dance books not relating to The Nutcracker? I'd love to hear them!

"The Nutcracker and the Four Realms", and Advent Book Club plans!

Hello, and how are you all doing on this gloomy November day? ;-) I can't even believe how quick we are coming up to Thanksgiving! Mike mentioned that it's falling the earliest that it can this year, and I'm really feelin' it!

I'm moving along with Advent plans (which I'll come back to) and birthday stuff for Henry (he turned 13 yesterday *sob!*), and general November preparations, which include both hosting Thanksgiving dinner AND the fall hafla at my dance studio. Always an eclectic mix around here, to be sure. ;-)

As well, this is the time of year that I go into Nutcracker mode. If you do a search on this blog for "Nutcracker" you will find quite a few posts dealing with The Nutcracker ballet and my obsession with it. I go to see it performed live every year in November/December, and last year I procured several DVD's of various ballets around the country performing it so that I could have some variety in my Nutcracker viewing. 😎 I love it, I really do.

This year, my mom and I plotted to take the kids to see the new Disney film adaptation, "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms," and all of us being off for Election Day this week, we took advantage of discount day at the theater. Quick review follows, no spoilers!

Granted, I knew that this would be a more dramatic re-telling of the story, likely with some plot line embellishment, and little to no dancing, just given the format. And I was correct. :0 The film is lovely to behold. Visually, they can do so much more now with surreal settings like this, yes? I was quite taken with the aesthetic picture it painted, and wished I could be absorbed into that world for a time. I enjoyed the actors very much, and the cast was wonderfully diverse. What I didn't love was that the story seemed rushed at the outset - I want to linger at the Christmas Eve party and build up all that anticipation of the adventure Clara has to come! Once she enters the other realm, the story definitely differs from the ballet, but again, I expected that. With no dancing, you need to fill in the narrative with a bit of other drama. ;-) My mom kept saying:

"This is so strange."

But to be honest, The Nutcracker is a bit strange under all circumstances, right? 😂

I truly enjoyed the experience, though it is no replacement for seeing The Nutcracker in ballet form performed live. I'd recommend it, though the villain scenes might be a little scary for young kids, it depends on the child.

This has me all in the holiday spirit, and as such, let's talk Advent!

🎉

I'm planning to try and read the daily Mass readings throughout Advent, likely using Sacred Reading. I also enjoy our little Advent Book Club each year. Last year, for both Advent and Lent, we read fiction titles. I'm all about that, believe you me. Thinking this year we could try something different. How would you feel about working our way through a devotional journal for Advent? We wouldn't have to make it all onerous, but maybe plucking out 2ish reflection questions to answer together per week? I'm thinking about using one of the new Stay Connected journals that yours truly is a part of. Thoughts? If we used mine, it focuses on spiritual reading (in manageable bite-sized pieces!) which might be a lovely theme for Advent.

What do you think? We should plan over the next 1-2 weeks so that we're all set when Advent begins on December 2nd. We could maybe work through one of the others (themed on either the gifts of the Holy Spirit, or spiritual invitations) for Lent. I'm excited, and would love your opinion!

Adventures in the arts this 2nd week of Advent...

Happy feast of St. Nicholas everyone! :) I am coming off of a SUPER packed weekend with the kids, journeying to various productions in the performing arts. I just love this time of year. *heart*

Henry, in particular, had a REALLY big weekend. He was cast in a kids speaking role for our local community theater's production of "Get Smart," which had its opening weekend this past Friday. AND he had his very first ever experience as an altar server at our parish's 5 pm vigil Mass for the 2nd Sunday of Advent!

Henry in character ;-)

 

 

I was really worried about the play, because Henry is a more reserved child. On top of that, he has struggled with a speech disfluency (commonly known as a stutter) for a number of years now, and so this was a big undertaking for him. That usually is only an issue (when it even is an issue, which isn't all the time) in conversational speech, so I was cautiously optimistic for reciting memorized lines. And indeed, he did GREAT. We are all very proud of Henry. Going to all of the rehearsals, memorizing lines, helping out with scene changes, performing his role...that's a lot for an 11 year old. Very impressive!

And right before the Saturday show, he had his inauguration as an altar server. :0 Mike and I were beaming with pride as Henry made his way down the aisle as a candle bearer in the opening processional. He was shepherded carefully by a more experienced server, and he performed all of his duties perfectly. In a totally surprise move, we were asked by one of the ushers to bring up the gifts during the Mass, so the whole thing was just one big warm and fuzzy. Henry told me that he loved serving at the Mass and that it made the time fly by. ;-) I'm looking forward to seeing him thrive in this role throughout the year.

On Sunday, while Henry was performing at his matinee, Anne and I made our annual pilgrimage to see "The Nutcracker."

All dressed up and ready to go selfie :-)

Anne seemed much more into the story this year, and I REALLY enjoyed sharing it with her. We also did a bit of Nutcracker-related shopping, and to the surprise of absolutely no one, spent FAR too much on glittery wooden nutcracker dolls and marzipan Christmas tree ornaments. You only get to do it once a year, right? ;-)

Anne posing with creepy animatronic reindeer during the shopping portion of our excursion

"The Nutcracker" is very special to me. We go every year, and it is a tradition that I savor. It is so festive and cheery. I really hope that, even when they get older, I can drag a child/grandchild to it for the rest of my life. They owe me this. :0

After our busy weekend, the kids happily set their shoes out by the hearth last night, and sure enough, St. Nicholas came for an overnight visit!

He always leaves chocolate coins, books, and saint dolls. ;-) This year, Anne received St. Teresa of Calcutta, and Henry got St. Dominic Savio. Anne packed up both St. Teresa and Pete the Cat and toted both to school with her to show her teacher.  So precious.

How was YOUR 2nd Sunday of Advent, dear reader? I would love to hear from you. *beams*

Of tales in excruciation from the portrait studio, annual pilgrimmages to The Nutcracker, & holiday dancing adventures...

Well, happy Monday to you all! I have been grading all morning, and you can only imagine how much fun that is. *sarcasm* But I'm coming up for for a breath of fresh air, and happy to be taking a break. The semester will soon be over, so hope springs eternal!

I had a nice weekend, and I hope you did too. It was busy, to be sure. Got your tea?

I started the weekend as I always do, at dance troupe rehearsal. We have a performance coming up on December 12th, as part of a "12 Days of Dance" enterprise, so we ran through the numbers we're going to be doing there. Then we got all giddy and started created a Christmas choreography that we want to record for our website, in which we dance to a Middle Eastern instrumental version of a traditional Christmas song and balance trays on our heads of assorted holiday decor: Gifts, ornaments, garland, we've all been tasked with getting creative this week and decorating our tray. I mean...is it any wonder why I love these women?! This group has brought more fun and joy into my life than I could have possibly imagined. We're all going to deck ourselves out in red, green or gold costumes for the recording and I can hardly wait.

:0

A super fun trip to the craft store is in my future, yes indeedy. In other news, Saturday morning dawned as the assigned day for our family Christmas photo. As background, we don't often take family photos. We haven't had one taken since before Anne was born, just to give you a sense of the photo-aversion we're working with here. But the grandmothers have been clamoring for a photo, and I thought it would be nice to surprise them for Christmas. Thus, I signed us up for a weekend slot over at our local JC Penney Portrait Studio and demanded that everyone dress nicely and smile. There were some collective dour faces from the children, but we arrived for our appointment looking cute.

Where we encountered...scores upon scores upon score of other people. All with pending appointments. It's a busy time of year for such things, and it was a Saturday morning, so it wasn't a huge surprise. We settled in to wait. And wait. And wait. At various points, children started sobbing. Not ours, thankfully, but you know, the ambiance wasn't exactly a joyful one.

Just when I was starting to contemplate counting the carpet fibers to pass the time, it was our turn. We zoom in. We only wanted one family photo, no extras or costume changes or anything like that, so I figured it would be a few quick snaps and we'd be good to go. And it likely would have been, had we not had Anne with us, the child whose facial expression lent the impression that we had kidnapped her on the way over and forced her to pose for photographs with us. It took some doing to get her to cooperate and smile.

In the end, we would up with a few shots that turned out well, with us all smiling and not blinking. We were there for two and a half hours, but the photo turned out great and it was cheap.

#winning

Later, we went to the vigil Mass for the Second Sunday of Advent, since our Nutcracker tickets interfered with our usual Sunday Mass time. And after we got home and had dinner, the kids put their shoes out by the hearth, in anticipation of St. Nicholas's feast day. And in the morning, da da DA!

St. Nicholas came over for a visit. :)

Each kid got a book, a saint and some chocolate. Henry has a small St. Nicholas tucked into his shoe, and Anne has Our Lady of Guadalupe. Henry keeps his saint dolls carefully up on a shelf, all lined up, while Anne puts her in baby cribs, sleeps with them in her bed where they are constantly rolling onto the floor, and generally hauls them around to watch TV with her or go on errands tucked into one of her many purses. Lots of adventures with the saints, to be sure.

Also on Sunday morning, we had our annual trip to see The Nutcracker, performed by a local ballet. I LOVE this tradition and look forward to it each year:

Anne and I dressed & ready for the show...

Henry even wore a tie, how precious is that? (he declined to be photographed ;-)) We headed to the theater, and as we do every year, procured a new nutcracker doll to add to our collection, as well as several sparkly ornaments for the tree. The kids did great for the performance, I just had to endure Anne sitting on my lap for the entire second half, kneading her elbows into my internal organs. It seems that she has an aptitude for this talent both inside and outside of the womb.

So that was our busy weekend. Now I'm in Grading Purgatory, but I'm offering it up for all of you. ;-) How was your 2nd Sunday of Advent, dear reader?

Seasonal arts traditions - The Nutcracker...

Ahhhh, seasonal festivities. Don't you just love those? I wouldn't call this an Advent tradition per se, but it's certainly a lovely event to get into the spirit of the coming Christmas season. Every year for quite some time now, I've gone to see The Nutcracker with my mom. Through the years we've seen a number of different ballets perform the piece, but we often seek out a local company who performs it each year in the Center for the Arts at the university for which I work. They do a really nice job with it, and keep the locations of the magical places Clara visits in Act II slightly different each time. I like the unpredictability of it all. :)

For the past two years, we've brought Henry along with us. So far, he sees The Nutcracker as "a play," hence it's OK for boys to attend, in his opinion. As if boys couldn't also enjoy watching ballet, but you know how these thought processes can work, sigh. At any rate, he really loves going, and I think part of the appeal is the lobby outside the theater, where collectible nutcrackers and all sorts of beautiful ornaments are on display and for sale. Each year he and I pick out a new nutcracker to bring home and add to our own collection, and usually an ornament for our tree as well. And we go out to dinner afterwards too, food always sweetens the pot. ;-)

This year, I decided to also bring Anne. At three and a half, it was a bold choice, but I figured: life is short. Why wait to start building those beautiful memories with her? Granted, I risk being in the ladies room for half the performance while Anne oohs and ahhs over the decor in there and/or throws herself to the ground in protest of heaven knows what, but I decided to live dangerously. We all got dressed up (Henry somewhat against his will) and headed out Sunday afternoon for the matinee performance.

It went pretty well. We got there *right* before start time (my mom drives sort of slow, but don't tell her I said that :0) and found our seats up in the front of the balcony. Anne seemed to find it pretty amazing that we were "up real high!" and I love sitting up there. So much easier to see well.

And Act I is my very favorite part of the show. I love the opening sequence set on Christmas Eve in the beautiful old house. The children dancing and the happy, festive music. The dramatic Mouse King segment. And finally the dancing snowflakes. Sublime! That part of the show is also shorter, and so it's also easier for the kids to sit through. There's a lot of action going on to keep them entertained, and the narrator explains everything. It's all very lovely. Anne was bouncing up and down in her seat, and kept asking "whispered" questions, so I had to field that and ask her to be quiet, oh, I don't know, 150 times maybe?

!

But, really, that's to be expected. And the matinee was packed full of other children, so I think the people around us understood. During intermission, my mom took Anne to see Santa and Mrs. Claus, and Henry and I shopped for a new nutcracker. We chose one adorned in red velvet, who is skiing. :)

Back for Act II, things was a hair dicier, but still manageable. Anne was now tired, and wanted to sit in my lap. She also wanted something to eat, and it took some convincing to settle her down out of that little situation, but all was well. The changing locations in Act II kept the kids interested for a spell, but I knew the Sugar Plum sequence at the end would be a problem, it is every year. :0

"Mommy. Are they ALMOST DONE?!"

She goes on a bit long, that Sugar Plum Fairy. And there isn't really a story anymore in Act II, we're just watching the dances set around the world, and the kids aren't as into that. Unsurprisingly, the Arabian dancer is always my favorite.

:0

We had lots of bored fidgetiness to contend with near the end, but we got through it. We went out for an early dinner afterward, and they both ate like they hadn't seen food in days. Typical. :)

Has anybody else seen The Nutcracker this year, or going to see it before Christmas? Do chime in in the comments. :)