Ice show: The Nutcracker on Ice

The Nutcracker on Ice happened this last weekend. I saw it last year and I loved it so much decided I had to be in it. It was the 45th anniversary of the show. Also it is the last year it's gonna be done on this particular rink, as a new rink is being build and this old one it's gonna be demolished.

What can I say. It was grand! The music goes uninterrupted and  numbers align in the back and they are cued when to come in. And as the Nutcracker is a party, it honestly felt like a party. It was beautifully decorated, the costumes were over the top, tutus included. 

We were around 30 adults participating as guest to the party and we had a group number, but some adults also had solos and duets. The queen and king were adults and they hand a dance together. There was a duet with two maids that did an amazing fun number. The magician, Clara's godfather, was played by different adults. And at least one adult had a solo in the second act.

As we rehearsed, the main instruction was to have fun, be comfortable and present big. Almost half of the adults did the show in the previous years, some, going back 20 years! And they were of course big help. Basically we were told to not stress out about anything, and just follow their lead. These adult skaters are part of a theater on ice team and they create each year a new number and they compete to ISI nationals and take part in local shows. They are a truly lovely group of people. The one day, Saturday, when we had two shows too close together for most people to be able to drive home, one of the skaters from this group invited us over to his place to eat. He made huge pots one with chili and one with vegetarian ratatouille, and the rest of us brought sides and deserts. Drinks were suggested but I was actually impressed that nobody went to it. What a responsible group!

Now, the only not so little negative thing, is that this is not my home rink. It's 40  minutes away without traffic, but it took me more then an hour with traffic. We had 6 rehearsals, 3 of them last week and 5 shows during the weekend, two shows each day on Friday and Saturday. I thinks this schedule is close to a professional performer schedule. And besides work, it is the time of the year that is most busy. So, as much as I enjoyed every little bit of it, I may not do it next year.

It all went so fast I didn't remember to take pictures, I took just a few. I will share only if they look good enough to make justice of how beautiful was everything. Otherwise I'll let you use you imagination.