Nutcracker

Our good friend Rachel Tan has a dance studio. She trains her dancers in the Royal Academy of Dance method and is very precise in her training and thinks big. As a result, her yearly dance recitals are close to professional in quality. For several years Rachel has had a vision of doing Nutcracker with her dancers. She loved the ballet as a girl and dreamed of presenting it as a community service while at the same time giving her dancers a fabulous experience. So she approached the committee that plans the Oakland Temple Hill Christmas activities and presented her idea last year. They went for it. And so Rachel and her instructors have been practicing Nutcracker routines with the students all of this year.

She asked us to be the grandparents in the party scene at the beginning of the ballet. Well, she really asked me and I said yes for both of us! Dancing is my passion, you know, and Rachel is my friend. So how could I say no? It was our idea that we would simply wander through the first party scene and be finished with our part. And that's what I told Layne. But we were wrong. We were to participate in two group dances and Layne had a solo part! Well, you may imagine how Layne, my non-dancing boy, responded to that. But he didn't back out. So when rehearsals began in October, we didn't miss attending them. And just about every day since rehearsals began, Layne asked me do dance with him. I must say that I loved that. He NEVER asks me to dance with him. Not until now. But he is a stickler for being prepared so we practiced both of our dances until we knew them in our sleep. I loved it!

The time arrived for the performance this past weekend. And so, for the first time, Temple Hill offered the Nutcracker. For free. Tickets were dispersed for crowd control and disappeared within the first few days of being available. We anticipated a full house both nights. We were not disappointed. There were people everywhere!

The picture at the top is of our costumed selves onstage in front of the living room scene. Pretty good scenery, don't you think?

Imagine little girls from a dance studio attempting Nutcracker. What would you expect? You would have been amazed and surprised, for our little girls did a good job of rivaling any professional dance company. From very small girls to grown-up ones, the dancing was flawless. Added to that were beautiful costumes and sets that were amazing. It was beautiful! I've never been that into Nutcracker before, but I absolutely loved it. I think even Layne did. We got to see most of it from the audience since we were finished after the first act. We bonded with our director and the other adults dancing with us until we became a very cohesive, friendly group. Layne's solo was so cute. The audience loved seeing him dance and then bend over with a "hurt back" from the effort. It was euphoric. I'd do it again. I wonder if Layne would?

And so, one of our Christmas "pressures" is done and this week we can enjoy preparing for family events. Sunday was one of them. We had a "Bethlehem Dinner" downstairs, in the kids' domain. We all wore headdresses and ate "Bethlehem" food with our fingers. It was quite good. But I WAS hungry. Here you see Mom in her headdress. There's more fun to come. I'm excited.