While waiting, I also made everyone read their programs! Before we went, ds started asking questions about the ballet and I happened to mention that although the Nutcracker sticks to the main story line, there are different interpretations. He didn’t understand and asked for details, so I explained what I have learned over the years. Well, after glancing through the program, I saw that this version would be far different from any I had ever seen. So I made everyone read the programs so they wouldn’t get too confused! We all agreed this was going to be different!

This version opened with a snow scene. Herr Drosselymeyer is played by a young man with graying hair and eye patch, yet he can dance and leap quite high in stunning style! He presents Masha (Clara) and Fritz with toys…which are actually people (ballet dancers). During the party the parents act out the mice story. Masha is a young lady who dreams and sees the battle with the mice, her Nutcracker Prince falls in love with her, she becomes the Snow Queen Fairy and Sugar Plum Fairy, therefore dancing 2 gorgeous Pas de Duex with the Prince. At the end, she wakes up Christmas morning, when Herr Drosselmeyer brings his nephew to her (who looks a lot like that Nutcracker Prince); they embrace and the curtains close. Sigh.

At the end, my dd and I agreed we had enjoyed it more than the guys, though with mixed emotions. We all agreed the choreography and scenery wasn’t as complicated as what we had seen in "Sleeping Beauty." We probably enjoyed it because it was beautiful…but it was also a romance! Sigh…. It ended exactly the way I would have wanted it to! However, DS was bored with the mice scene! Dh was just plain bored, and he likes going to these kinds of things. We talked about all the various versions we had read and seen before and wondered which one was most like the first one?

I figured there had to be an explanation to all this. When we got home, I noticed the front cover of the program…"The Original Nutcracker". I did a little research on line and got excited! This is the original Moscow version of the Russian story written by the famed Russian composer performed by the Moscow Classical Ballet!!! None of this was mentioned in the program, which is a shame. Ds is more impressed, but he still thinks it was boring. Well, dd and I loved it anyway! Next time I’m going to do some research before we go, hoping that will make a difference for the guys. I know I would have enjoyed it even more had I known. I would have imagined myself in 1919 Moscow watching this! Sigh….

This tells you a little of the Moscow version…

 www.herald-dispatch.com/entertainment/x376279167