Perhaps Mary wasn't exactly THE star of the The Nutcracker. But she was OUR star!
Her studio puts on a big, fun, high-quality performance every year. And this year Mary was part of it! She was a Ginger Snap, one of Mother Ginger's children. Mary (and David) have always loved the Mother Ginger part of the The Nutcracker, so her role was exciting for our family! It's a well-run, polished, professional-like show, and it definitely required a certain level of maturity. Not surprisingly, Mary worked hard with grace and focus, and she more than rose to the occasion. She was even chosen to have a special part as one of the Ginger Snaps who welcome Claire and the Nutcracker to the Land of Sweets. Yay, Mary!
You can see the Ginger Snaps two dress rehearsal performances
HERE and
HERE. It's a super cute dance with lots of bouncing and moving around--so it's hard to follow Mary. I did my best. Check it out!
(MDC's Nutcracker version is "jazzed up." There's lots of ballet, but some of the numbers are jazz, modern, tap, and even hip-hop! No, it's not traditional, but it is a lot of fun.)
Because The Nutcracker seems to be a rite of passage for a dancer, and this was Mary's first year, I have two million pictures to document the event . . .
Saturday was dress rehearsal all day! Lots of work.
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| Listening to instructions during the tech run/walk-through. |
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| Ready for dress rehearsal! |
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| Sara met us backstage before Mary's group rehearsed. We brought Sara to see the dress rehearsal because we weren't sure if we would take her to one of the performances the following day. |
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| Our favorite Ginger Snap! |
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| Rehearsing the arrivals scene--when the Sugar Plum Fairy welcomes Claire and the Nutcracker. |
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| Bragging alert: Mary was one of four Ginger Snaps (out of a lot!) chosen to be in this special scene. She was really excited about it. We were too! |
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| There she goes! Skipping across the stage! |
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| Meanwhile, Sara was loving it!...even though her expression doesn't show it here. Sara loves music and dancing. She was captivated, clapping after each dance and asking for more. She loved it so much we decided we had to bring her to one of the performances the next day. |
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| This is the farewell scene, when the Sugar Plum Fairy gathers everyone to bid farewell to Claire and the Nutcracker. |
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| Listening to the post-rehearsal notes. Mary listened carefully. The director asked the Ginger Snaps to be even bouncier and more energetic. Mary took it to heart. Her performance was so fun, energetic, and BOUNCY! It was super cute. |
Performance Day! There were two performances. The whole family came to the first one, and I stayed for the second.
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| Sorry, David and Sara, but you weren't being very cooperative for the picture. But everyone enjoyed the show! |
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| Sisters. Sara loved the show...she made it almost to the end before I had to take her out. |
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| Greg was really proud of Mary. |
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| We love this girl! |
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| She's quite the performer. |
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| Me and my girls! |
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| I'm so lucky because I got to watch the dress rehearsal and both performances! I'm so proud of Mary. |
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| Our star of the show! |
