My niece Olivia, is almost 4 years old and started taking tap/ballet classes in September. Apparently, she loves it and would like to be a ballerina (ideally, a princess ballerina).
When Angie and I were growing up in small town Alberta, we didn't have much access to high-brow culture like ballet, so Angie and I wanted to give that experience to her kids, starting with Olivia. So, a couple months ago, I bought us tickets to go see the San Francisco Ballet's Nutcracker for the family matinee show.
Apparently, Olivia was so excited that she didn't sleep or eat the night before. We wanted to make sure that we were early, as the first 500 kids were supposed to receive a free toy. Angie picked me up and we went down to Hayes Valley for a quickie lunch at the Crepe House.
From there, we headed over to the Opera House (well, actually, Olivia skipped the entire way). Olivia's free toy was a little stuffed toy mouse, pretty cute.
Right before the show, Olivia started having a little bit of a meltdown. She had waited "soooo long!" and was pretty frustrated. She also wasn't quite sure what the Nutcracker was, except it had something to do with ballet, so she got even more frustrated when she found out that it's a show and that she wasn't going to be able to dance. This little girl wants to be a ballerina sooo bad!
I've been to the Nutcracker for the last couple years in a row, but have gone with adults. So, it was interesting to be there with a child, specifically during the slow parts of the show and seeing how tired little ones get. During the intermission, Olivia perked up quite a bit, as they were serving free milk (even chocolate milk!), with cookies and Ghiradelli chocolates. Yum!
In the end, Olivia enjoyed the Nutcracker a lot, especially as she finally knew the story. She kept asking me to read her the story from the program.
Her mom got her one present from the day, a heart-shaped musical jewelry box.
After the show, we headed over to Citizen Cake for some post-show desserts and a glass of wine for Auntie Bea. It was a great afternoon and it will be a nice annual tradition for the kids. I highly recommend that the child be around 4 years old for this to be a successful day.
1 comment:
OMG! Olivia is so grown up now, I can't believe I'm missing so much! =)
I just love that pose in the last picture with Ang. She's standing there in her little overcoat with one foot kicked over the other. So nonchalant!
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