Saturday Special - The Nutcracker

Me & Mom - The Yorkville Nutcracker is a New York themed Nutcracker. In this version of the ballet, the big party takes place at Gracie Mansion. The children are named Mary and Putnam, and they are the children of the mayor of New York. The Nutcracker is a replica of explorer and civil war hero Yellowstone Kelly who turns out to be Mary's brother. The dancers in the second act do represent other countries but they don't represent food. We recently had the opportunity to see this version of the ballet which is performed by Dance Patrelle every year. Several different ballet schools participate in the production along with principal dancers from several well-known troupes including New York City Ballet and Dance Theatre of Harlem. The ballet was very entertaining. The dancing was lovely. The New York  angle was interesting and made it unique from other productions.

For more about Dance Patrelle visit www.dancespatrelle.org/

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Me & Mom - We also recently had the opportunity to see the traditional version of The Nutcracker performed by the American Repertory Ballet at State Theatre New Jersey. This version is more like the arguably  most famous version of the ballet which is performed at Lincoln Center every year. American Repetory Ballet's production was delightful and full of charm. The sets and costumes were full of color. The dancing was beautiful. The children were adorable especially one little one. There were differences between this version of the ballet and the Lincoln Center version but the basic story was the same. All in all, it was a wonderful performance,

For more about the American Repertory Ballet visit American Repertory Ballet www.arballet.org.

For more about other upcoming events at State Theatre New Jersey visit www.stnj.org/events.

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Me & Mom - We also recently had the opportunity to see an exhibit on  George Balanchine's famous version of the Ballet at the New York Library of the performing arts. The exhibit at the library was very cool! They had lots of pictures from the 1954 production of The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center choreographed by George Balanchine. That was the first time that particular version of the Ballet was performed. That version has been performed at Lincoln Center every year  since. It is a holiday favorite, and is arguably the most famous version of the ballet. The exhibit consisted of lots of production photographs from the show. They also  had ballet shoes signed by some of the famous ballet stars who've participated in various versions of the show over the years including one version that was on televison. The shoes included ones signed by Alexandra Danilova and Edward Villela. Whether you have seen Balanchine's Nutcracker or not the exhibit will make you want to see it again or for the first time.

For more about the Balanchine's Nutcracker exhibit at the New York Public Library of the Performing Arts visit nypl.org/press/press-release/october-27-2017/new-york-public-library-performing-arts-celebrates-nutcracker.

And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for this week's Sunday Scoop.

Photo credits: All The Yorkville Nutcracker production photos by Rosalie O'Connor
                       All American Repertory Ballet's The Nutcracker photos supplied State Theatre NJ