My First Nutcracker

I called my hubby a few days ago. We're going to watch Nutcracker. He was surprised. Did you win the mystery voice contest, he asked me. I couldn't surpressed my excitement. I laughed out loud and told him how at last minute, I was able to come out with the answer and also be the third caller to our favorite station, KLIV.

Even with the free tickets, it took a while to convince hubby to go to the show. He said he'd rather go watch Shark than Nutcracker. Well, I didn't doubt that. But we never been to any ballet show, so it's going to be an exciting experience. I was planning on what to wear already. :)

So today is the day. We left home around 11:30 and planned to go to Dac Phuc first for lunch. Dac Phuc was just not as good anymore. The bowl was too small so the bean sprout couldn't get wilted properly. Anyhow I couldn't wait to watch the show.

When we approached the San Jose Center for performing arts we saw a bunch of boys and girls forming a choir outside. We didn't pay much attention and just walked straight in. Surprisingly there were quite a lot of guests today for an afternoon mattinee. Our seats were in the orchestra section. The view was perfect, straight line to the stage, about 30 feet from it. Close enough to see the dancers and their expression but not too close that we have to look up.

When the light dimmed, I realized that there was a space underneath the stage for the orchestra. Silly me..of course, it's a ballet. Well..first timer.

Early this morning, I googled nutcracker to get an idea of the storyline. But then again, every performance will slightly differ. So was this one. So having a programme book before the show will help, according to my google result. I was ready to spend a few dollar for the programme. But turned out that it's given out for free. Wonderful.

All in all, it was an interesting performance. I was fascinated by the costume, the decor, music and the dancers. I found that watching ballet was quite similar to watch movie. But balled doesn't have dialog so it's important to watch the body language of each of the characters. The first few minutes I was overwhelmed by so many things going on the stage. The act started with the hussle and bustle at the Tannenbaum's household getting ready for Christmas party. There were at least ten or even more dancers moving around the stage. After a while I only tried to focus on the center of attention.

The show lasted about two hours. Even hubby admitted that he enjoyed the show. It's hard not to. The costumes were so colorful, pretty and sparkly. The dancers were handsome and pretty and their performance was awesome. On the negative side, it's quite expensive though for a family of four considering that the cheapest ticket could take $30 out of your pocket.