Remembering the Nutcracker 2009

What an experience this was for the girls! I believe the full title of the production was "The Asheville Academy of Ballet Professional Performance of The Nutcracker 2009." Whew! Everything about this show was truly professional, . . . including that the costumes were the property of the studio, the compensation the girls received (if you include all vouchers, tickets, etc. the girls were paid about $150 each), and then the sheer PRICE of the tickets at $50 a pop was DEFINITELY a professional price. LOL. Sure enough, professional ballet dancers came from all over to dance the lead parts. The smaller roles, of course, were done by local children and teens.

I can't stress enough the rigorousness of the Nutcracker Schedule, . . . with practices during the fall being only once a week, and then two weeks before the performances we switched to DAILY. Then there were the performances themselves: six in all. All were sold out. Two school performances on 12/10, and the regular performances on 12/11 (7PM), 12/12 (2:30PM & 7PM), and 12/13 (2:30PM). Our entire family came to the very last show and, therefore, got to experience the fun curtain call in the lobby afterwards.

In the midst of the whirlwind, a few fun memories:

• The fact that Annie was both the youngest and the smallest in the entire show, . . . and the attention she got as a result.


• The way Annie would turn to the other Gumdrops backstage and whisper, "This is my part! This is my part!" right before going on, . . . and upon recognizing the music. (And even upon recognizing the music in the car.)


• The way Leia Rose insisted I put down, "Clara or nothing" on her audition form.


• The way Annie would get angry if you called her a "Gumdrop" at the beginning of the dress rehearsals. "I'm not a Gumdrop! I'm a PONY!" (This came from me putting her hair in a "ponytail" in preparation to do a bun.) And then by the end of the performances, when someone called her a little princess, insisting, "I'm not a princess! I'm a GUMDROP!" She finally got it! : )


• The sheer amount of "sculpting gel" that it took to do both girls hair. My mantra became: "Sculpting Gel: A Short-Haired Ballerina's Best Friend."


• The head flower fairy and head maid (the highest paid professional ballerina) cornered me in the hall one evening after the performance and said, "Please don't tell any of the other mothers, but we think that your two children are the absolute CUTEST in the entire show!"


• The sheer amount of downtime in the dressing rooms just waiting to go on.


• The way the girls clung to their roses they received especially from the Sugar Plum Fairy (they were the only little ones to receive this honor, . . . in that the Sugar Plum Fairy showed up at dinner after the last performance).


• The face Annie would make after every performance.


• The sheer excitement of Leia right before they would call "Places!"


• The way Annie would run to me after every performance and yell, "Mamma! I'm a STAR!"


• How Leia Rose was always concerned about 1. Getting spray sparkles on her lollipop hat and 2. having her hat not fall off (when in reality, me putting it up higher on her head allowed people to see her face).


• How Annie LOVED to make faces in the mirror.


• How little Anna Olivia was always left alone to her own devices for the every single practice and performance.


• Meeting one of the moms who performed with Dolly Parton for years at Dollywood.


• The cleanliness if the dressing room in the Diana Wortham Theater at the first performance, . . . and the nastiness of the dressing room in the Diana Wortham Theater after the last performance.


• The melancholy and drama of Clara where the music definitely requested of Drosselmeier, "Where's my present? Where's my present?"


• The normalcy of Clara's makeup onstage, . . . and the extent of Clara's makeup offstage.


• Early dinners at Eddie Spaghetti after Saturday practices.


• The nasty game of some of the youngest performers of "picking up used hairpins." Ugh!


• Realizing the the girls and I could easily do "The Party Scene" or "Mother Ginger and Bon Bons" TOGETHER. Next year? Oh my!

• Sitting between all of Brian's family as well as my own, . . . I cried as the snowflakes started falling during the Waltz of the Snowflakes: a treasured moment never to be forgotten

And on one of the evenings, I made sure to call "Warm Ups" and then shuffled the girls up to the stage to take some "professional" photos by Clara's big Christmas Tree.