We went to opening day of the Nutcracker Suite at the Patchogue Theatre today. It was a shortened version for children at the 11am show and all I can say is, BRAVO! The show and the dancers were amazing.

We saw the shortened version today and I wish I was able to see the full length (2 hour) show. My 3-year-old daughter and 7 month daughter accompanied me to the children’s show and they loved it. The dancing which was under the artistic direction of Orlando Pena was spectacular. I was so amazed by the Ovations Dancers whose ages started as young as five years old.

What is so beautiful about this show is that there is no spoken dialogue. The dancers through their dance and movement along with the music from the amazing Atlantic Wind Symphony Orchestra tells the story of The Nutcracker Suite. I have to applaud Orlando Pena for his artistic direction and ability to choreograph a show so well. Like, I said the show I went to was the children’s show and there was groups of children from local schools seeing the show and they all loved it. Children are the most honest audience and as I looked around the theatre as the show went on, I saw happy faces (young and old) as they watched with excitement. My seven month old daughter was awake bouncing on my leg and clapping along to the show. My three-year old was so excited seeing all of the toys come to life during The Party scene and she loved the Battle between the Soldier Doll and The Rat King.

I highly recommend seeing the show and I can not wait to take my girls and husband back next year.

BRAVO, BRAVO and ENCORE for years and years to come…

 My 3 Year Old Mia highly recommends the show along with her Momee to see the show!

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I was lucky enough to meet with Orlando during their rehearsal on December 5th. After meeting with Orlando for the first time I could tell he is a warm person with a lot of love and passion for what he does. He cares about his students and the show he has choreographed. Below is a picture of Orlando stepping in to dance with one of his students during rehearsal.

 I saw the dancers rehearse The Party scene and even watching the rehearsal at the studio I knew the show was going to be fantastic. When I spoke with the children of the cast they were all so excited to be on stage and show their family and friends what they have been working so hard on since September. Yes, September! In just a few short months (practicing on Saturdays and Sundays) the cast learned the choreography and their hard work paid off. I learned that all the children have to keep good grades in school in order to continue dancing at Ovations. The children are amazing role models for their peers not only doing well in school but they are amazing in their art of dance. And the love and passion Orlando has for dance has rubbed off onto his students because they exude the same love and passion as they dance.

Here are some pictures I took from the rehearsal (Party Scene):

History of the Nutcracker Suite:

“The Nutcracker  is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (op. 71). The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann‘s story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg on Sunday, December 18, 1892, on a double-bill with Tchaikovsky’s opera, Iolanta.^[1]

Although the original production was not a success, the twenty-minute suite that Tchaikovsky extracted from the ballet was. However, the complete Nutcracker has enjoyed enormous popularity since the late 1960s and is now performed by countless ballet companies, primarily during the Christmas season, especially in the U.S.^[2] Major American ballet companies generate around 40 percent of their annual ticket revenues from performances of The Nutcracker.^{[3][4]“- Wikipedia}