Boston Ballet’s The Nutcracker (Ticket Giveaway)

Last Thursday was the first night that I started feeling in the Christmas spirit, and it was because I got to see The Nutcracker at The Boston Opera House!

As a former dancer, when I was offered a pair of tickets free of charge in exchange for a writeup on the blog, I jumped at the opportunity. I haven’t seen The Nutcracker in YEARS, and I knew right away that I wanted to invite my friend Erin to come with me. Erin and I danced together on the Providence College Dance Company back in the day, so I knew she would appreciate it more than any other friend of mine would, and Tim really appreciated NOT having to come with me. Erin and I were also trying to find some time to catch up before the holidays, but a weekend was just not working out, so this gave us the perfect excuse for a girls night out! We met for dinner before the show at Rustic Kitchen and then made it over to the show for the 7:30 start.

After we picked up our tickets at will call, we made our way to our seats in the orchestra section. I don’t know if I’ve ever sat in this section of the opera house before!

The dancers were absolutely STUNNING. In fact, they were actually so beautiful that Erin and I both teared up during different parts of the performance. It was so magical and made us miss our dancing days! I can never decide what my favorite scene is from the show, but the waltz of the flowers, Arabian dance, and the sugar-plum fairy get me every time. Also, I thought that this production cast Clara perfectly. She was spot on with everything.

Here are some press images of the performance courtesy of Liza Voll Photography since I couldn’t snap any as part of the audience.

And here are some fun fitness facts about The Nutcracker that I dug up to share with you guys:

• Boston Ballet dancers logged over 70 hours of rehearsal time to get ready for the Nutcracker.
• On stage, the three Russian dancers do nearly 40 jumps up to five feet in the air all in only one minute and 12 seconds. The lead Russian does 18-20 jumps, and his companions do 10. (I want no complaints the next time we are doing burpees in class!)
  
• Mother Ginger’s skirt weighs an impressive 45 pounds, and her (his!) feet are 18-22 inches off the ground on stilts that weigh 15 pounds per pair. This is all with 8 kids hiding under there!
• The bear’s costume weighs eight pounds, which is CRAZY considering the amount of jumping and turning he has to do without being able to see!
  
• The Nutcracker Prince repeatedly lifts 100-120 pounds of ballerina in just the Grand Pas alone.

Cool, huh? Nevermind the amount of athleticism it takes to rehearse for and execute 44 consecutive performances in just 5 weeks. I can’t even imagine!

I had such a wonderful time at the show, and it was a much-needed night to get my mind off of some things that were bothering me during an especially stressful week. A huge thank you to The Boston Ballet for my tickets and getting me in the holiday mood.

Want to go too? Enter to win a pair of tickets to one of the following Nutcracker performances next week!

• Tuesday 12/16 at 7:30pm
  
• Wednesday 12/17 at 7:30pm
• Thursday 12/18 at 1:00pm
• Thursday 12/18 at 7:30pm

All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post telling me what helps you get in the Christmas spirit. You can receive one extra entry by sharing this giveaway on social media and leaving me a second comment letting me know you did so. This giveaway will run through Sunday 12/14 at 12pm EST, and I will announce the winner on Monday morning. Good luck!