The Nutcracker

Last night was the opening night of The Nutcracker, presented by Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley. The orchestra sounded wonderful, better than ever before since the new acoustical shell was recently installed at the Center for the Performing Arts. I simply love Tchaikovsky's music. According to the program notes (yes, I read those), the version I saw had totally new choreography by the artistic director, Dennis Nahat. My two favorite scenes came in Act II. They were entitled "The Land of the Shifting Sands" and "The Land of the Ivory Pagoda". The San Francisco Ballet also has an annual performance of The Nutcracker, which I hope to see next year.