This Christmas season, if you haven't gotten to see "The Nutcracker" ballet, then you definitely should! If you have never seen "The Nutcracker" before... why not? This classic Christmas ballet is something you don't ever want to miss out on. Here is a list of reasons why you should love "The Nutcracker," if you don't already:
1. Ballet is beautiful.
Graceful twirling, dainty stepping, and powerful leaping is the name of the game in ballet. The dancers are always prim, precise, and brutally en pointe... get it? En pointe? It is the dream of little girls around the globe to become the Prima ballerina after seeing "The Nutcracker" for the first time.
2. The story is fun and exciting.
Toys coming to life after midnight? Great battles to the death with scary monsters? Handsome princes that fall in love with beautiful girls? A real-life Candy Land? Sign me up!
3. Tchaikovsky's score to the ballet is iconic.
Everyone knows the opening notes of the soldier's "March," which is used as the trumpeting entrance to any royal character in any movie ever because it is so princely. The Russian-inspired "Trepak" is also a favorite. There are so many pieces from "The Nutcracker" suite that you may not know were from the ballet!
4. Christmas traditions
Everyone has different traditions for the holidays, but they are always special and meaningful. Going to see "The Nutcracker" ballet every year with Grandma or hanging the precious porcelain ballet slipper ornament on the Christmas tree or bringing out your massive number of collectible nutcrackers are only a few that involve the ballet.
5. Barbie in "The Nutcracker"
This movie is the bomb.com. It has Barbie starring as Clara, doing actual ballet from the original choreography to Tchaikovsky. What more could you want? Maybe to wear that "sugar plum princess" dress just once?
6. "Dance of The Sugar Plum Fairy"
Seriously, this piece alone is enough to get anyone into the Christmas spirit. And as far as classical music goes, this one is what I like to call a "slow jam." Do I know how to do ballet? No. Do I still try my hardest to dance to "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy?" Yes, yes I do.
7. The costumes
Ballet costumes in general are always fantastic, but "The Nutcracker" really takes the cake. How ballerinas can twirl and do those high jumps in those heavy costumes and still manage to look amazing is beyond me. I'm very jealous either way.
8. The original story is good, too.
"The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" by E. T. A. Hoffman is the short story that inspired the two-act ballet. There are some minor differences in plot, and over the various adaptations of the story, the main character has undergone some name changes (Maria? Clara? Who knows), but the essential premise of the story is the same.
9. "Winterspell" by Claire Legend
If you read and liked the original story, then you'll love this darker young adult retelling, too! If you need to get yourself pumped to see the ballet again, crack open this book with the score playing in the background.
10. There are other movies, too!
If you don't like reading too much, but don't want to spend money on the expensive ballet tickets, there are films that are a good in-between. The 1993 version with Macaulay Culkin is a recording of the actual ballet, and the 2010 version with Elle Fanning is more of a cinematic storytelling.
11. It's timeless.
You can enjoy "The Nutcracker" if you're 10 years old or 100 years old. This ballet has been around for more than a century and has been put on year after year because it is a classic.
