Balanchine – Smoke & Mirrors https://smokeandmirrors.cityofsmoke.com Essays on Theater and the Arts Sun, 31 Oct 2010 19:44:49 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.4.33 The Art of Lead-Soldiering https://smokeandmirrors.cityofsmoke.com/archives/432 Wed, 06 Feb 2002 03:00:41 +0000 http://smokeandmirrors.cityofsmoke.com/archives/432 I took a friend to one of the last performances of the Balanchine Nutcracker this season at the New York City Ballet. He'd never seen it before; in fact, it was his first visit to the ballet. I myself hadn't seen The Nutcracker for several years, and, wondering what it would be like to be seeing it for the first time as an adult, I found myself remembering what it had been like seeing it as a child. How upsetting I had found the scene in which Marie's little brother, Fritz, shatters the nutcracker-doll, the special gift that Herr Drosselmeyer Continue reading]]>