This Christmas, my husband’s parents gave our family a wonderful gift: they took us all to a Colorado Ballet performance of the Nutcracker. Grandparents, parents, aunt and children, all excited for the kids’ first ballet. Their only previous experience with the Nutcracker was in the form of a Barbie movie. To sum up, the Barbie movie has some of the same character names as the ballet, but they throw in a rock giant, a scary grandfather, a mouse king who turns his minions into statues, a talking bat and a quest to find the magical “Sugar Plum Princess” to turn the Nutcracker back into a prince. (But other than that, they are exactly the same?) Also, the tickets were a surprise, so we couldn’t discuss the real ballet much beforehand. Basically, my kids were pretty unprepared for the show, and I was a bit nervous as to their reactions.

When we arrived at the theater, the kids were amazed! The crowd was amazing! The stage, amazing! The lights, orchestra pit, ushers- you guessed it- amazing! I could tell what my 6 year old daughter was feeling; she wanted to be the one on the stage, dancing away for an adoring audience. My 3 year old son was less easy to read. He was quiet, and fairly still (odd for a 3 year old), taking everything in. When the music began and the curtain went up, my daughter settled in to watch the show and ooh and ahh with her Grandma over the dances and costumes. But my son had other ideas: he wanted to know! “Grandpa, is that real snow?” “How did the tree get big?” “Who is that guy?” “What happened to the Mouse King?” “Which spotlight is that?” and on and on. His Grandpa quietly answered all his questions while Dad, Auntie and I giggled behind them. I was very impressed that, for once in his short little life, my son remembered to whisper! (Only once did I hear a question about a rock giant.)

We had a wonderful time! My kids have been playing Clara and the Nutcracker Prince ever since. And while they like the Barbie movie for its action and adventure, they both appreciated the dream-like, slower paced beauty of the ballet. (My son didn’t start to fidget until nearly the end of the show.) It’s nice to know they don’t have to be bombarded with animation and wild special effects to be interested in something. The Colorado Ballet put on a great show, and I hope there are more in our future!