PNB Nutcracker

To the dancers, the musicians, the directors, the stage crew, and everyone involved in the PNB Nutcracker--  I know that it can't be easy spending so much of the holiday season on stage.  I know that many of you dancers are far from your families, and that there are probably moments when the loneliness, the injuries, the exhaustion of putting on a perfect show-- as much as you are living your dream-- might not always seem so glamorous.
So I just wanted to write and say thank you. I want you to know how special you have made this season for so many of us.


Here is something I will remember for as long as I live:

My 5-year old daughter sitting next to me in the balcony in the grand McCaw Hall.  She's in her bright red dress, covered in chiffon roses, and she's reading the program cover to cover.  

We are there to see the Nutcracker.  She has never seen it; but she's all grown up and 5 now.  She's ready.  She knows all the music from her tiny-tots ballet class at the YMCA.  She is completely present.  We don't go to many shows, and this was a Christmas splurge for us.  We feel like royalty waiting for the theater to darken.  

I want to save this memory somewhere safe.  The way she whispered to me throughout the entire thing, narrating the story, humming along, eyes wide wide wide open.



How is it that it took me nearly 33 years to really understand the story of the Nutcracker, but this tiny child completely gets every detail?
She is sitting there explaining it all to me--  See mama?  Clara is dreaming and sees the story of Pirlipat in her dream.  Then at the party Herr Drosselmeyer recreates the dream with the three dancers, and Clara is scared, so Drosselmeyer gives her the nutcracker doll.  Fritz was so naughty!  I'm glad the parents are sending him to bed   etc etc etc.... 
Clara's killed the rat king with her shoe!!  She's dreaming again and she's going off with the Nutcracker who's a prince and she's all grown up and off they go to a far away land!  Oh my gosh!  It's the Peacock!!  It's the flowers!  And it's the Pas De Deux!.... etc etc etc.... 

It was a completely magical show.  Bravo, to each and every one of you-- Bravo and Thank You!  It's a beautiful thing to inspire and excite a child.  My daughter will carry this day of music and magic with her always.