The Royal Winnipeg Ballet's Nutcracker

FTLComm - Winnipeg - December 25, 2000

This story is being written for those of you have never been to see a fully staged live ballet. Up until Christmas Eve I had never been to see one, I had been to school ballet shows, as we followed the career of my niece Carrie Broda, who grew up in Melville, trained to join the Royal Winnipeg at Meyers Dance Studio in Regina and now performs as part of this world class ballet company. This production was a first for me and as I watched in wonder enraptured by the magnificent music and overwhelmed with the scenes, the story telling through movement, I was troubled to realise that I have lived so

long and not seen and

experience before such an event. Then I realised that so many people have be to this, the "real" thing. A live performance on such a grand scale. Like most of us I have watched passively on television, ballet and even seen at least two versions of the Nutcracker performed, but like a peanut can be called a nut, if you had only sampled it alone, you would not know what a fantastic variety of things there are to behold. The Royal Winnipeg Ballet has already visited Regina and Saskatoon with this production and has only five more productions to perform, all here in Winnipeg before they put it to bed for another year. The story is has been presented by ballet companies for at least a century but this product has taken a much different approach by setting the story in the early part of the twentieth century in Canada, with Canadian traditions and settings. The grand Christmas party that opens the show is a warm and wonderful show, as the stage is set for the fantasy sequences. There is something for everyone, but unlike most productions of this story, this one is not just for children. The delightful bear is a clown that lightens and illuminates the first half of the story, but in the second half it is wondrous dance. The Royal Winnipeg's performers and ensemble cast are the best and they take you beyond the stage into your imagination for time to come, as this production will not be forgotten and nor will the magnificent production of the music by Winnipeg's Symphony Orchestra. The next production, Butterfly goes into rehearsal in the new year and will hit the road coming to both Western and Eastern Canada. If you have not settled into a seat to view a ballet before don't wait, get your tickets and see for yourself the marvels and magic of a ballet.

Timothy W. Shire

We do not have images for you of the production or of our tour of the backstage as we met the performers and seen how it was done, perhaps another time we can take you back and show you these mysteries.