The Nutcracker

Today I took Isabella to see The Nutcracker for the first time. Having been a pseudo-ballerina at one time in my life I have been anxious to share this experience with her. I made peace with the fact that we would most likely be leaving early which made the experience a little easier. Not to say it was easy. Isabella LOVED it. And you see, that was the problem. From the moment the overture started her head bobbed in unison with the music and her little legs ached in need to join in on the movement. She was able to contain herself pretty well for the first half, thanks in part to our awesome seats. We were only 3 rows back in the balcony (which I have always preferred to get the full stage view) with nobody in front of us directly. She had no trouble seeing. At intermission she entertained most of the lobby with her skilled arabesques and even inspired some other young folk to join in. For the second act we moved to an empty section of the balcony as I anticipated an early exit. I was correct in my thinking. She enjoyed Mother Ginger with the children running under her skirts, but the Waltz of the Flowers is a little too long for anyone to handle. I was glad to take off, as the production was good (definitely better than I could have ever danced) but the set and choreography (in my humble opinion) uninspiring. Plus we beat the traffic (yay!). I am glad that we did it, but I will probably hold off for a few years before we do it again. As Isabella said when we were done, "mommy, that was a really long movie."