A Nutcracking evening to remember....

F-I-N-A-L-L-Y....I found myself that lil' black dress woot! So, lets go baybee!!

Minutes before leaving my house, my leng chai dressed up so smartly in navy blue and coat told me that he forgot to bring his belt... So, we need to stop by at his place to get it before heading down to KLCC. Thank goodness for having a man with good sense of direction..but his in-build "compass" is only effective on the ROAD. He'll lost his way inside a tiny supermarket! *eyes rolling* Guess that's what he meant by a 50-50 efford in a relationship huh?...he'll take care of the road, I'll take care of the mall..MUAHAHA

Managed to find a parking space for his "wife" and on time for a lovely meal before the performance starts at 8:30pm. I should've brought my cameraphone along to take some nice photo of the food we had but unfortunately, my dinner bag is too small to even fit a coin purse!

The orchestra ends at 10:30pm and guess what? Took us about 20mins of walking to locate his car... Are we aging gracefully or what?!?

Anyway, he managed to beat the jam with all his "shortcuts" again and return home for our next DVD session after a quick shower...

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An article taken from Wikipedia

In Western countries, this ballet has become among the most popular ballets performed, primarily around Christmas time.

The Nutcracker

Act I
The curtain opens to see the Stahlbaums' house, where a Christmas party is being held. Clara, her little brother Fritz, and their mother and father are celebrating with friends and family, when the mysterious godfather, Herr Drosselmeyer, enters. He quickly produces a large bag of gifts for all the children. All are very happy, except for Clara, she being the only one who does not receive a gift. Herr Drosselmeyer then produces three life-sized dolls, who each take a turn to dance. When the dances are done, Clara approaches Herr Drosselmeyer asking for a gift. Drosselmeyer is out of presents. Clara runs to her mother in a fit of tears.
Drosselmeyer conjures up a Nutcracker. Clara is happy, but her brother Fritz is jealous, and breaks the Nutcracker. Drosselmeyer chases him off and mends the toy.
The party ends and the Stahlbaum family go to bed, but Clara is concerned about her Nutcracker, and comes out to the Christmas tree to see it. She falls asleep with the Nutcracker in her arms. When the clock strikes midnight, Clara hears the sound of mice. She wakes up and tries to run away, but the mice stop her. Or perhaps Clara is still in a dream: she shrinks down to the size of the other toys. The Nutcracker and his band of soldiers rise to defend Clara, and the Mouse King leads his mice into battle.
A conflict ensues, and when Clara helps the Nutcracker by throwing her slipper at the Mouse King, the Nutcracker seizes his opportunity and stabs him. The mouse dies. The mice retreat, taking their dead leader with them. The Nutcracker turns into a prince. (In Hoffmann's original story, and in the Royal ballets 1985 and 2001 versions, the Prince is really Drosselmeyer's nephew, who had been turned into a Nutcracker by the Mouse King, and all the events following the Christmas party have been arranged by Drosselmeyer in order to break the spell.)
Clara and the prince travel to the a world where dancing Snow Flakes greet them and fairies and queens dance.

Act II
The Sugar Plum Fairy and the people of the Land of Sweets dance for Clara and the Prince in the dances of Dew Drop Fairy, the Spanish dancers, the Chinese dancers, the Arabian dancers, the Russian dancers, Mother Ginger and her Polichinelles, the Marzipan dancers, the Sugar Plum Fairy, and the Waltz of the Flowers. After the festivities, Clara wakes up under the Christmas tree with the Nutcracker toy in her arms. (In Balanchine's version, however, she does not appear to wake up at all; she rides off with the Nutcracker/Prince on a Santa Claus-like flying sleigh, complete with reindeer. This gives the impression that the "dream" actually happens in reality, as in Hoffmann's original story. The 1985 Royal Ballet version seems to imply the same thing, since at the end, Drosselmeyer's nephew, who had really been transformed into a nutcracker, reappears in human form at Drosselmeyer's toyshop.)

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