The Nutcracker: Pieces of Childhood - Piece I, Act 2

Journeying to the far reaches of YouTube, I have returned to The Grimm Tea Party with clips from this most beloved performance of mine (see last post - link).

PNB's Nutcracker-Load In Time Lapse


An extra song.
A comment on the YouTube video says that the song is from “Tchaikovsky's opera "Queen of Spades,"” Of all the versions of The Nutcracker I have seen, only PNB includes this.


Clara and the Nutcracker
and The Nutcracker battles against the Army of the Mouse King


In The Christmas Tree
and The Waltz of the Snowfalkes


Variation II (Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy)


Divertissement
Chocolate (Spanish Dance), Coffee (Arabian Dance), Tea (Chinese Dance), and Trépak (Russian Dance)


Divertissement
Dance of the Reed Flutes and Polichinelle


Intrada


Intrada, continued

Kindest personal regards,
Do not forget the reason for the season,
Miss Alice Grimm

The Nutcracker: Pieces of Childhood - Piece I, Act 1

Pacific Northwest Ballet Nutcracker, originally uploaded by kuow949.

A very intimate post I bring to you, one of the many pieces that form my childhood. The Nutcracker. The very name thrills me. The music was part the musical score for my childhood.

I hardly know if I can properly express how much I truly adore this creation. It had everything my young heart looked for in entertainment. A love story, with beautiful visuals, delightful and dark music, a hero I could believe in, and a villain who was equally fascinating.

The particular interpretation of the story which is dear to my heart is performed by the Pacific Northwest Ballet (link). This is the version which I grew up with. I am very thankful that the VHS recording that my mother has still works. I hope one day they will release a DVD of the performance.

One notable aspect of this production is the costumes and sets, designed by Maurice Sendak. I am sure many of you know him at the illustrator and writer of Where The Wild Things Are. After re-reading the story book (before going to see the film) I realized that the Wild Things have the same eyes as my beloved Nutcracker. Maybe that is why I have such a soft spot for them in my heart.

IMG_0577, originally uploaded by Yakpimp.

Further making the PNB performance, in my mind, of The Nutcracker as the definitive performance is the presence of this illustrated book (). It is the one that I grew up with. I still read it every Christmas. This could be the first year I do not read it, for I have loaned the book to a friend. Hopefully I shall have it again by Christmas Eve.

(Photo from Stuart Ng Books: link)

Nevertheless, the VHS is still working, and clips of the production exist on YouTube (stay tuned for another post with YouTube clips). Furthermore, the performance, the sets, the costumes are still in use today! As can be seen in the trailer below. This is what gives me the greatest thrill; that I may one day be able to see a performance that I cherish greatly as a child.

And I feel certain that whatever the performance is like, even if they have changed something, will still be better than the performance that I saw at the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre last year. That performance is worthy of a rant. Maybe even a future blog post. Maybe. Maybe not.

Kindest personal regards,
And do not forget the reason for the season,
Miss Alice Grimm

Lest We Forget

In Flanders' Fields, originally uploaded by Al-Jauhara Al-Mohammed.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

- - John McCrae, May 1915

Remembrance Day November 11 2007 71, originally uploaded by cayoosh_traveler.

Remembrance Day 2006 - 139, originally uploaded by etherflyer.

National War Memorial, originally uploaded by The Second Mouse.

Newfoundland National Memorial

Looking toward Beaumont-Hamel, originally uploaded by Rexton.

Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial

Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial, originally uploaded by Salfordian.

lest we forget, originally uploaded by striatic.

World War I ended
on the 11th hour
of the 11th day
of the 11th month
of 1918

Lest We Forget