Hello from Cincinnati

[tchaikovskyfan]

Hi everyone.

I've actually never danced in a ballet production (I danced ballet when I was little but that was it) but as a fan of classical music, I have become entwined in a love affair with Tchaikovsky as well as many other wonderful and talented ballet composers. It stems back to my younger years (about 3 or 4 if I remember correctly) when my mom would take me (and later my sister) to the ballet every Christmas in Columbus, OH to see The Nutcracker. While some parents may have worried that I may have been too young to enjoy the Nutcracker, it was always a very exciting and moving experience. Tchaikovsky was a musical genius. While he actually despised the score of the Nutcracker, it has become a score that is celebrated all over the world and has, in my opinion, stood the test of time. The way Tchaikovsky can take you from the light, string filled Overture to a fun march around the house to having you believe that you along with the dancers on stage are shrinking (or the tree is growing) and then witness a battle between the Nutcracker himself and the Mouse King to be topped off by a Waltz of the Snowflakes and a journey to the Kingdom of Sweets where the Sugar Plum Fairy has her subjects perform for you and then performs with her Cavalier a Grand Pas de deux to be finished off with a final waltz and Apotheosis brings back so many wonderful memories. I look forward to talking about many wonderful ballets, especially my favorite. Can you guess which one that is? I also look forward to talking about Tchaikovsky and the other composers who put music to our favorite stories.

tchaikovskyfan

[carbro]

Welcome to BalletTalk, tchaikovsky fan!

I so agree with you! One of my favorite ballet moments is not dancing, but hearing the mounting sense of anticipation at the start of the Nutcracker as the overture ends and -- at least in the Balanchine production -- the children wait to be admitted into the living room to see the decorated tree. As many Nutcrackers as I've seen over the years, that music sets me up for something really special.

I look forward to your contributions to many of our discussions.

[bart]

welcome, tchaikovsky fan. Coincidentally, we just opened a new "sub-forum" on the Nutcracker and have moved some of our threads to that. You will find it on the Main Page index, under "Ballets and Choreographers."

Please feel free to add to an ongoing thread (even one that has been inactive recently) or to start one of your own.