A Christmas Nutcracker Carol

In a December full of excitement and firsts, we added one more...the ballet.  I had wanted to take them to the ballet for awhile but Stinkerbell was still just a bit too young to sit through the whole thing without wandering around or making a fuss, up until this summer.  By then, she could finally sit through a movie without either falling asleep or having to get the wiggles out, so I figured it was time.  

The Nutcracker is beloved by both of my girls.  Granted, it is the Barbie version but it is still pretty true to the story.  And I had heard that here in Prague the ballet is put on by the National Theater each holiday season.  I also knew from friends that I should get tickets early if I wanted to see it any time near Christmas.  Right around the time school started, so did I.  I checked a couple of places to buy tickets and finally found really great seats and rate for a box!  It was the perfect solution for the littlest one, because if she got bored, or needed room to wiggle, she could.  What a treat I knew this would be for all of us.

Finally, the day of the ballet arrived.  The girls were beside themselves while getting dressed and kept dancing all around their rooms humming the dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.  They also thought it was so grown up of us to then take the tram to the theater.  They love the tram and since it runs basically from our front door to the front door of the theater, for under $4 round trip, we love it too.  

So festive and beautiful!

 We got to the theater and were ushered to our box.  The girls were surprised to know that the space was just for the four of us, as they thought we were going to have to share.  They sat down and checked out their surroundings.  Which were quite impressive.

The Národní Divadlo (National Theater) is a testament to the will of the Czech people to preserve their identity and independence.  Built from public fundraising and opened in 1881, the Theater is now known as a Czech monument to history and art.  Housing the National Ballet, Opera and is tasked with keeping alive the dramatic way of Czech thinking (not as in Real Housewives drama, but as in Performing arts Drama).  It is a beautiful space and I hope that we will be frequent visitors in the future.

It was almost curtain time, so we took our seats...  

This really was her seat, but we let her sit with us on my lap...

The orchestra was seated... 

 And the ballet began.  And the girls (and I) were entranced.  No one moved a muscle from the opening pirouette to the closing grand jeté.  It was mesmerizing.  And I was not inclined to take pictures (no flash, didn't want to disturb those around me...)  But once we stretched our own legs and were seated for the second act, I took a moment to snap just a few...(no flash - no sound - not disturbing to anyone, I promise)

 It was a great time and the girls were in love from the first moment that we sat down.  And I am glad because I sooooo enjoy live theater, in any form.  Hopefully it will be something we can do as a family more often.

And just a quick note on my title - it was the Nutcracker as told within the story A Christmas Carol.  A bit disconcerting at first, as I was expecting a pure Nutcracker retelling, but all in all it was pretty good.  Especially the lead ballerina - she was flawless!