For the last three weeks, I have been dressing the Joffery Ballet’s Nutcracker. There were 120 kids per show. It was actually a lot of fun.
The best show was a student matinee. Before the show, a great audience guy went out to explain the show to the students. Now, it was at the Auditorium Theatre, which seats 3000, so the theatre was packed with screaming pre-teens. But, the guy handled them so well. One of the things he said was that the ballet members loved applause, so they should applause when they see something great. They should shout BRAVO, when they see something amazing. They practiced that a few times and the show began.
During the first act, we are taken to the land of snow. The stage is bare. Huge fog machines are going…we’re talking about that fog that is so thick is covers the stage and anyone standing in it up to their knees. It is brightly lit. 12 little girls, dressed as tree angels tip toe on stage. The pas de deux starts and the snow begins to fall. Huge, fluffy paper-hole punch snow. It really was breath-taking. Well, the kids started shouting BRAVO. And I cried. I was so touched that the magic worked on these kids of today.
We should all take a lesson. Even when life is smoke and mirrors, fake snow and old ratty costumes, it’s still pretty amazing when two people are at the top of their game and dancing for you. What more do you want?
