Seven-year old Vivian Wei and her little sister Michelle, age 3 (pictured left with mom Janet), were among the hundreds of children at Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre yesterday seeing Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker for the first time. At intermission, the lobby was aflutter with pink dresses and crinolines as excited, would-be ballerinas recounted their favorite parts of the first act to their guardians — “Did you see the bear on roller skates?!!”.
A flock of little lambs, below, students from Canada’s National Ballet School, circulated through the mezzanine handing out souvenir trinkets commemorating the school’s 50th anniversary. The lambs appear in the second act cowering with fright as a wily fox dances among them. The scene is unique to choreographer James Kudelka’s sumptuous re-imagining of the story about a Nutcracker who comes to life in the Christmas eve dreams of a brother and sister anxious for the morning to arrive. The lavish production, with its distinctly Russian setting, celebrates its 15th season this year.
What a joy it was to see the dance yesterday from stage-side seats, some of the tickets set aside by the company and sold at a discount as “rush” seats prior to every performance. At $35 each, The Nutcracker rush is one the best entertainment values in the city — line-up at the box office about an hour before it opens to claim bargain tickets (limit two per person) to that day’s matinee or evening performances. The Nutcracker is on until January 3. Simply sublime!
Photos by Christopher Jones
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