Thursday, December 01, 2005

Moscow Ballet's Nutcracker

A couple weeks ago we saw an ad that the Moscow Ballet's Nutcracker was going to come to town. My wife commented on it and said she'd really like to see that some day. I figured this was "A Hint" and made a mental note.

Last week I got online and looked up ticket prices and seat availability. I found a couple balcony seats which were reasonably priced and told them to save 'em for me.

Last night I got home and was looking forward to the evening. After a brief let down (see previous post re: papercut & lemon juice), I grabbed the tickets and we went out to dinner. We went to Biaggi's, a nice Italian place. (It's where we had our first date and also where we had dinner on the night I proposed.) She had one of their special items, butternut squash ravioli with almond sauce. It was very good; the almond sauce was very sweet and tasted more like a glaze. She also had "sherry tomato soup." I ordered the clam chowder and "shrimp and scallop spiendito(?)." I forget the exact name, but it had a skewer of scallops and a skewer of shrimp, over couscous. For dessert we ordered her favorite: white chocolate bread pudding.

With full and satisfied bellies, we drove to the theater and found our seats. They were in the balcony, eight rows up, along the center aisle. They would provide a great view of the performance.

I wasn't sure what to expect. I mean, ballet? Guys at work had given me a hard time. They stated they would draw the line at ballet if their wife/girlfriend wanted to go. ("Sure you can go. Then you can tell me all about it when you get back.") Though their wife/girlfriend wasn't within hearing distance at the time.

I thought it would be fun. It's the Moscow Ballet after all! The Nutcracker is a classic! And it was fun. I recognized some of the music and some of the dancers had amazing moves. The one doing the Russian dance did a move I've never seen before, and I really don't know how to describe it. But it was very impressive; something you'd expect from a gymnast rather than a dancer.

They included kids from a local dance studio: little girls dressed as mice, butterflies, snowflakes, and in other costumes. What a treat for them to dance with professionals like this. Overall, they did a great job, but there were one or two false starts.

I was expecting more from the Russian dancers. They weren't in sync as well as I though they'd be. Maybe I was expecting too much. Still, it was well done and a lot of fun. Sometimes the dancers would show off a little and give the audience a chuckle.

My wife thoroughly enjoyed the evening.


And that's all that matters, isn't it?
-- C.

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