The Great Russian Nutcracker at the Orpheum - Minneapolis, MN
What an amazing day!!!
The morning starts off with the alarm going off at 6am! I lean over to Calli and say "It's Nutcracker Day" and she jumps up and down says, "YES YES YES!!!"
The night before (Friday) was very busy! With Kurt and I at work and Cole at hockey events, Calli was picked up at school by Aubrie she fed her dinner at home off to the studio they went for a rehearsal. When we arrived - the parents were given information about the following day. I also find out that I am going to help backstage!
YES YES YES!!!
After the meeting, we headed downtown to stay in a hotel to prepare for the next day. We arrive to our fabulous room and relax before hopping into bed.
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| relaxing on the couch |
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| what a great idea to stay the night and relax |
After the alarm sounds we jump out of bed and begin the coffee brewing and start
to curl Calli's hair for pictures.
We enjoyed coffee and snacks as we listened to some jazzy Christmas music
to start the morning off right!
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| she wanted to see what her hair looked like |
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| dad and calli |
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| before we left |
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| before pictures and fitting |
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| calli and a group of girls after pictures |
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| waiting to go backstage As we waited to go backstage the kids were patient in the skyway. Once we got backstage (understage) the kids waited again. After the 12pm show was over it was the girls turn to rehearse with the Cast. AKA- Russian Ballerinas!!! Let me tell you what… I am still in awe of those dancers! For those that do not know, I LOVE dancing and ballet and everything that goes along with it!!! For these girls, what an amazing experience to be able to have and remember for the rest of their lives! They perfromed with professional dancers! Off my soap box for now and back to it later… The rehearsal was run by one of the ballerinas that spoke broken english. She would speak with Dana about the cues for our dancers to enter the stage to preform. AMAZING! As rehearsal would continue the ballerinas would "mark" the routines as our dancers would dance "full-out" to be sure they were in the right place at the right time! As Showtime nears the girls are getting very excited, now "under stage" in costume ready to dance - they wait! and wait until their turn! We were not allowed to take photos down stairs of the girls in their costumes - but I did get one of the kids waiting. 
The 4:00pm show I was "under stage" with the girls and for the 8:00pm show I was able to watch. Both wonderful experiences and yet both very different!!
(SIDE NOTE - I will never forget what it was like to watch from the wings at the 4pm show. I am typing this so that when I am old and I forget things that I will be able to go back and read all about what a wonderful experience it was for us!
Just before the show begins - we are asked to take the Party Guests upstairs to prepare for the show. They head upstairs with another dance instructor. I sat back with the other kids and teachers. I asked Dana what I should do while I wait for the kids to come back down here and she says "Shouldn't you be keeping an eye on the dancers up stairs?" I pause… "Um…" She then said "Go upstairs and watch your daughter go on a professional stage for the first time!" I almost peeded my pants!
UPSTAIRS??? With the Russian Dancers??? ME??? WHAT??? OK!!!!
She did not have to tell me twice! I was up the stairs in no time!
The show begins and the dancers take the stage! A couple minutes in the show Calli and the other dancers head out on stage… (we couldn't take photos from the wings) my heart melts and I begin to tear up! My daughter is on stage with profession dancers WHAT!!! oh my gosh!
As I stand on the wings and watch her I am in such a fog but well aware as to what is going on. The thoughts through my head are so clear and again I am typing this all so some day and can reflect on my thoughts and emotions!
As I watch her everything is in slow motion… I want to cry, laugh, jump up and down, freak out, talk to the other ballerinas in the wings and thank them , dance around but all I can do is stand stand still smile and be teary eyed! I can not believe this is happening and I get to be backstage with her
OH MY GOSH!!!
Thoughts that are going through my head are… "Kris, you want to take pictures, you can't… stop everything that you are feeling and thinking and just take this all in for the moment that you are in and enjoy - for it may never happen again! So I did just that!!!
Enjoyed watching my daughter do something that I would have never thought would ever happened and dreamed that I would be able to do my entire life! Happier that she was able to do it rather than me! Fortunate that we could provide her with the opportunity!!!)
Back to the day…
The 4pm show ends and we begin to start rehearsals for the 8pm show. I help Nina get settled in to her duties and I head upstairs to find our family.
Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad, Cole and Molly get settled into our seats. The show begins and here comes Calli and the other Synergy Dancers.
   
The show continues and it is wonderful! We have never seen the Nutcracker and all of us enjoyed the show very much! It was that much more spectacular that we knew some of the dancers in the show.
      
On the way home we did not get very far and Calli was sleeping!!!
The End!
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