This is the third year that our granddaughter Kaitlyn has performed in the Eglevsky Ballet's "Nutcracker". I consulted the program booklet to learn how to spell "Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky" and could not find it there. I had to consult Wikipedia, and learned that Tchaikovsky composed the music, but the story came from other people. When I first saw it two years ago, my initial impression of the first act was that it was cluttered by an awful lot of details and characters. I soon realized that the Christmas celebration in the plot created many roles for young people. This year, the performance that I saw had 10 Dancing Party Children, 6 Children Party Guests, 10 Soldiers, 7 Mice, and 5 Rats. In addition, the first act had 11 Party Guests and 14 Snow Flakes, which I assume were more experienced dancers. There were also the principal dancers and characters.
The second act had 8 young performers popping out from under Mother Ginger's skirt, plus 12 Angels, 4 Cooks, and 8 Flowers, who may have been more experienced, plus many principals, some of whom performed various ballets from sexy-slinky to acrobatic. I am just a novice attendee, so I cannot competently describe the production. I was entranced by the beauty of the music and the dancing. My main point here is that the plot and choreography seem to have been made in Heaven to recruit young people into the ballet, nurture them, and provide roles for them as they increase their skills, all the way to the top performers. Female recruits outnumber the boys, so there are either a lot of costume crossovers or unspecific costume genders (mice, rats).
There are at least three ballet companies on Long Island, each giving several performances, and this is going on all over the U.S. and other countries, especially during this season. The Nutcracker attracts performers and provides students for the many dance schools, leading to work for instructors, choreographers, and other professionals. There is also much volunteer work and donations that help to keep the economy moving. There may be some lessons here that can be extended to other parts of our economy and our society. I don't see any yet, but I am sure that I will never again think that the Nutcracker has a cluttered plot. It's an economic engine that benefits a lot of really nice people.
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