Feeling holiday nostalgia

kriner@sunmulti.com

As the stores get more crowded and

the temperature drops, the smell of peppermint fills the air and you know it’s

the holiday season. If you are looking for ways to celebrate, add the Atlanta

Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” to your winter bucket list.

The production is choreographed by John McFall and music

by Peter

Ilyich Tchaikovsky live with

the Atlanta

Ballet Orchestra.

In the midst of the holiday rush, it’s comforting to step

into the Fox Theatre for Atlanta Ballet’s “Nutcracker” and to see the

snow-laden evergreens and rounded minarets of the Petrov family’s 19th-century

Russian home. It’s enchanting to peer through a lattice of winter branches into

its picture window.

There’s a feeling of nostalgia, a moment to slow down, take

a deep breath and prepare to be transported to the age of old-world classical

story ballets – a time when people traveled by horse and carriage or sleigh,

pocket watches ticked and ballets lasted four to five hours.

“The Nutcracker” alludes back to the simple time of being a

child. It starts with a holiday party, the kind your parents would drag you to

every year, and it centers on Clara as she receives a beloved gift – a

nutcracker.

After a conventional beginning, the story delves into the

imagination when, in a flash of smoke, the Nutcracker comes to life. The

magical story makes my inner child want to believe in Santa Claus again. It

evoked the feeling of childhood play as the Nutcracker battled the Mouse King.

A breathtaking moment in the production is when Clara and

the Nutcracker dance among a beautiful glittering background as snow swirls

around them (isn’t that every girls dream?) Ballerinas filtered in around the

couple as if the snow had come to life. The combination of the falling snow,

gorgeous costumes and the intricate moves of 20 ballerinas are simply

enchanting.

I started dancing when I was 5 years old. Dance has been a

huge part of my life, so I have a special place in my life for the arts. Even

if you aren’t a dancer or have never been to the ballet, I am telling you the “The

Nutcracker” will certainly make you love it.

Bring the whole family for an enchanting and memorable

evening that keeps the spirit of the holiday season alive! The show runs Dec.

7-26.

 

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