One of many December traditions is attending a performance of the Nutcracker Suite a ballet composed by Tchaikovsky.
Today’s selection is the Waltz of the Flowers, performed by New York City Ballet as choreographed by George Balanchine,
Enjoy, Jack
Sunday Serendipity, tis the season
jack, very lifting and lyrical. just the inspiration i need for the mountain of cookie and fruitcake baking ahead of me today. ’tis the chosen holiday gift for friends and neighbors in these parts.
but first
Republican senators Mitch McConnell (James Austin Johnson), John Cornyn (Mikey Day) and Marsha Blackburn (Cecily Strong) help prepare Herschel Walker (Kenan Thompson) for the Georgia Senate runoff.
and second
Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week’s biggest news, like the Senate passing the Respect for Marriage Act.
back to jack’s selection, but can’t do ‘cracker reminiscence properly without including Rudolph Nureyev
speaking of nutcrackers, if you’re a KY resident you may want to enter the price weber naming contest and win $1000 worth of goodies to come up with a good name for their new tower. my entry was “Knute McCracker” — also written kNUTe mcCRACKER. probably not win. my second choice was “mitch mcconnell” the GOPer nutcracker here.
Thank you Jack, Just lovely.
Ashley Bouder is a wonderful dancer. Would love a chance to see her if she tours.
The Goober Song of Fealty to the orange Stain.
The only autograph I have ever requested was from Mikhail Baryshnikov on a poem dedicated to him by Joseph Brodsky. Seeing any ballet performance makes me think of that, so had to check what he was up to now that his is 74 and found this interesting big.
I had 2 autographs, Frank Sinatra Jr. and Chuck Berry. Still have the chuck, but the Frank may have gone away. Oh, and i got signed publicity photos from all the performers on Johnny America’s Pavilion Club playlist.
jamie, for you something else to remember him by
Nutcracker, Grand Pas de Deux 1977- American Ballet Theatre Starring Mikhail Baryshnikov & Gelsey Kirkland
Patd
The ones I always watch when I want to remember just what made him so spectacular are the Don Quixote drinking solo and the entrance in Giselle. Someone once described it as believing that this time gravity wouldn’t win, and man would fly. It almost broke your heart when his toe touched down before starting another leap.
Lovey Jack
Speaking of Christmas traditions- in Iceland on Christmas eve people give gifts of books and hot chocolate and then they spending the evening drinking and reading.
ps the tradition started during WWII when paper was not rationed and books were available
jack – Thank You! That feels like Christmas to me. When Baryshnikov’s version of The Nutcracker aired on PBS way back when, I insisted on getting Christmas Eve over with so I could turn in the TV. I’ve seen so many versions, including many ballet schools, but the most meaningful was NYCB. I cried. It was magnificent. There was a creepy movie before the pandemic started, but the trailer looked terrible so I did not go. I’ve never cared much for going to movie theaters.
that insane statement from the former guy (remember that guy who swore an oath to uphold the constitution and foretold carnage the 1st dayhe took office) about dumping all rules, regs and the constitution was just another, but more desperate, cry for the limelight and drooling attention of the media. his behaviors of late recall norma desmond’s line in sunset boulevard:
Jack half the fun of what you play is looking forward to see what you’re going to play.
The beans are definitely cool.
I AM big. It’s the MAGA that got small.
Sturg – Comment of the day!
Bid… I second that!
Id like to thank all the midgets…..uh, I mean all the little people….
Although the statement from the moron is just him circling the commode bowl there are several things that shine on the porcelain. First, he is spewing his hate for America on whatever that other far right wing nut job site, not on his freshly released twit account. Another, how he is so desperate to be in the lime light, and the media gives it to him. One twit in a twet noted that the NY Times did not cover his declaration of independence from the Constitution on the front page, along with the WashPo, except it was covered in a White House statement by WashPo. Finally, the greedy old perverts are refusing to say the guy is out of his mind and should not be allowed to run the gqp.
Does this matter? Yes. It is important to keep hammering that he, like many other gqp, have declared the Constitution nothing but a piece of paper (useful for sanitary purposes). The “media” has failed to take this and use it as a club to drive into the public thought how horrible the repubs are.
With most of the major media in the claws of repubs and worse, there is little hope for getting things straight. Billionaires think of media a play toys, perhaps Bezos not so much he seems to be hands off.
Couldn’t be a better selection for me, Jack. My sister was Clara in the Birmingham Ballet’s presentation of The Nutcracker when I was 15-16 years old. I remember it like it was yesterday. I’ve seen productions by Boston, Pittsburgh and New York ballets in person and have seen productions by the London and Moscow Ballets, including Baryshnikov and Kirkland, among others thanks to PBS, and the one I remember most clearly is the one my mom basically made me me go see when I was a kid, with my sister sitting in that sleigh behind the principal dancers and the BSO (which at that time was a big deal orchestra), and I was infatuated with one of the other dancers in the troupe, who i never got the chance to do more than say hello to. Best ballet I ever saw.
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