Nutcracker Review?

My youngest daughter was in an impressive local ballet conservatory's presentation of The Nutcracker. She auditioned in October and danced as a baker last night. And, not just any baker, but the one that gets to hand the cape to the principal dancer (who flew in from New York for the gig). There were about 700 or so people that paid to see the show.

Now, you need to know that I have absolutely no idea what makes for quality ballet. To me, it's like figure skating in the Olympics...It is pretty impressive but I have no idea why judges take off points. Same with ballet. I wouldn't know the right way to do the moves anyway, so I don't know if they're doing them correctly or not.

But there was plenty of movement and color and I had a nice time...plus, the local company employs a live symphony which was pretty darn impressive, so my review of the ballet is that it was a good show.

However, there was a ballerina dressed as a baker, holding a cake at one point and a cape at another, and sitting next to Clara during the dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, that kept me spellbound. She was brilliant and beautiful and happy and she carried the rest of the cast's performance on her shoulders. And I don't need to know anything at all about ballet to KNOW that.

All you have to do is be her dad...