ATLANTA BALLET!!

Happy New Year's Day everyone! And the New Year's gift from me to you is my retelling of the Atlanta Ballet's Nutcracker!! Yay!:)

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:)

showzzzz!

Hey guys! Anne here:) So, my computer decided to break so I can't blog as much, BUT luckily my boo let's me use his laptop whenever I need it. High five, boifriend, high five.

ANYWAY! As you know, I'm putting A LOT on my plate this semester: I am doing Taste of the Arts, Midsummer Night's Dream, Dance Showcase, AND Nutcracker all while trying to maintain my grades. I thought it'd be helpful for you guys to have a little brief explanation of all the shows and what I'm doing in them. yaayyyyyy!

Taste of the Arts: This is an event to raise money for all the arts at Darton College! Majors from the Theatre program, the Art program, the Music program, and (you guessed it!) the Dance program! The theme this year is Roaring 20s. Doesn't that make you want to die?! I am so excited! The Dance program will be doing three pieces all inspired by 1920s pieces! One of them is a ballet number and we have to wear 1920s inspired swimsuits which means SWIM CAPS! YAYYYY!! We are also doing a modern piece which is inspired by Salvador Dali and it's sooo cool. It is very geometric and awesome. The third piece, which I couldn't be in but Brianna is in, is a Charleston musical number! It's super cute!:) What's really awesome about this performance is that it is on my birthday:) Oct.1,2010 is the date, yo!
Here's the website: http://atasteofthearts.org/

Midsummer Night's Dream: The Theatre and Dance program are always trying to be collaborate in showings and Midsummer is perfect! It is by Shakespeare and it is freakin' hilarious. Most of the dance majors are fairies:) Brianna is Titania, Queen of the Fairies, and I'm Puck! This is my first straight play and my first role in a play sooo I'm really excited. And there are hopes that I will fly!:) It will be Nov.11-13. YAY!

Dance Showcase: This is basically a show that has everything in it! Dance majors are choreographing stuff and we are always doing stuff from Taste of the Arts. Brianna is choreographing a piece, but I will let her talk about that:) I'm really excited about the dance for my ballet class. We are dancing to Train's "Marry Me." We are all in this knee-length wedding dresses. There is only one guy in our ballet class (perks of living in South GA) and he is supposed to be our ideal guy. It is so beautiful and breath-taking! It's going to be Nov. 19-20!:)

Nutcracker: I was asked to be in FRDA's Nutcracker! But due to my crazy schedule, I couldn't get all the parts I really wanted. But I am in Snow, Flowers, and Lead Bon-Bon. Don't look up Bon-Bon, because all that will come up is Mother Ginger. The choreographer made a new variation because some many people are in it. I'm really excited! It is going to be Dec.10-12!:)

Pictures of all of these fun events will be posted:) Oh and I promise that I will get a picture of my arabesque improvements soon too!:)

Here's the PERFECT signing off picture:


Hugs, Kisses, and Classy Dancin'!
Anne:)