Brandon and I started off the day leaving around 11:15 AM and drove for over three hours! It was a fun ride and we both enjoyed every bit of it:)
When we finally made it to the ATL, it took us forever to find our specific parking garage. The Fox Theatre has different parking garages and they ALL LOOK THE SAME! So we spent 10-15 minutes trying to make sure we parked in the correct one! We did NOT want my car to get towed:)
Brandon and I literally walked for four and a half hours around Midtown Atlanta. There aren't any places to shop there; it's mainly restaurants and stuff. But we ended up finding stuff for our family for Christmas:) Random Note: Coming from such a small town, it felt so cool to act like I lived in the big city:) Every bit of it was awesome even if my feet did hurt the next day.
After all that walking, we decided to find a place to eat dinner. Luckily for us, there was this nice Italian place literally right next door to the Fox! It was super delicious! Brandon and I gladly ate up our dinner with delight:)
When we got to the Fox, the doors hadn't even opened yet, so we had to wait outside. But it gave us time to admire the architecture. It turns out, that my aunt help paint the Fox when it was getting restored. HOW COOL IS THAT?! When it was getting close to the doors opening, Brandon and I tried to get as close to the doors as possible! Neither of us have been in the Fox before, and everyone who has gone kept telling us how beautiful it was. We wanted to see what all the fuss was about!
We couldnt take pictures in the actual inside of the stage so here is a picture of the ceiling outside the stage!
When the doors finally opened, my jaw dropped at how beautiful the theatre was! They don't allow pictures to be taken inside the theatre so I don't have any to show you:( But I will try my best to describe it! The ceiling was designed to look like a night sky with twinkling stars and everything. And, get this, IT MOVED! Ever so slowly, I noticed that the clouds on the ceiling were rotating! I was blown away and the ballet hadn't even started yet! The stage itself was HUGE and had all of these side compartments that people could pop out of. To me, it looked as if it was designed after some castle. It was gorgeous.
Finally the lights went down, the orchestra began playing the Overture, and the curtain went up. I was beyond excited!!!
As much as I want to tell you guys about every little detail, I know that I can't, so I will just talk about the Battle Scene. I know, I know, shouldn't I be talking about Snow? Or Flowers? Or Sugarplum? Surprisingly, I began crying during the Battle Scene because it was so beautiful. Weird, I know.
There was just this one part in the scene that took my breath away. The big rats had come to cause havoc on Maria's dreams when Drosselmeyer came out. He told her to go into this puppeteer playhouse for protection. I thought to myself, "Well, that isn't really going to protect her well. That's silly!" Then, the playhouse began ascending far above the stage and I was just so mesmerized by it! I just thought that it was so beautiful, watching her ascend so gracefully into the air.
Then, she got down because she saw the Nutcracker needed her help. She took his sword and slain the Mouse King. And even though I have seen the Nutcracker since I was like 3, this felt like I was watching it for the first time. My breath was taken away at how much Marie loved the Nutcracker and would do anything for him! The dancer who played Maria, Alessa Rogers I think, danced the battle scene so gorgeously. She had these wicked arabesques and these beautiful banana feet. Her acting and talent made even the Battle Scene look beautiful.
(Marie got a HUGE Nutcracker)
As a whole, every bit of this Nutcracker was amazing. This was the first time I have seen a classical ballet performed live by professionals. Everything was magical. I cried about ten times because of the beauty of it all! All of the dancers performed so effortlessly and floated perfectly. It really inspired me to be even MORE focused on my dancing and my stretches list has definitely increased!
Well, have a Happy Dance-Filled New Year!
Hugs, Kisses, and Big Rats,
Anne:)
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