New York Diaries: The Nutcracker Ballet at Lincoln Center
Every year, attending the Nutcracker Ballet at Lincoln Center rings in Christmas for me. When the snow starts to fall on stage at the Snow Fairies Waltz, it’s official.
In 2015, I connected with a big donor of the New York City Ballet, who arranged for 26 of my clients and spouses to do a tour back stage of the sets and costumes.
Do you know that all that ‘snow’ is actually ‘paper?’ We got to feel the touch the buckets of it. There are little people underneath the bed that carries the Nutcracker off stage.
I bought out a row and we all sat together to see the performance afterwards. Full album here. It was a special moment for me to connect others to this annual New York tradition in this intimate way.
Last night, was COLD in the city. My Uber navigated the traffic, predictably horrible for a Saturday night. I directed him to NOT take the highways.
“Just weave through the city from Brooklyn to the Upper West Side.”
I had all the desires in the world to take the subway. But I had already been in midtown during the day to get my hair colored. I didn’t have the energy to take the subway uptown again.
My friends, both avid dog lovers, bonded immediately when they met at 6:30pm at Lincoln Restaurante, exchanging photos of their respective pups enjoying the first snow yesterday.
Jamie is my Brooklyn friend. We live right by one another. She was a generous donor for TEDxWomen this year. Mou is a SheSuite member (DM me to join). We bond over opera, ballet, and Broadway theater, reminiscing that we were last at Lincoln Center in the summer to see Steve Carrell in “Uncle Vanya.”
I lapped up an “Aperoless” (zero alcohol cocktail). I’m still battling some latent jet lag. A wine would have put me straight to sleep.
Lincoln Center was lit up like a jewel box last night. I snapped these as we walked in.
It was a full house last night. We were in the first ring.
I wore a Nathalie Garcon outfit I bought in Gallerie Vivienne.
Boucle jacket, layered over a cashmere sweater, and a tulle skirt. In retrospect, I was probably a little too bundled up. I was baking in the theater.
Honesly, the easiest way to get out of midtown after a show lets out a Lincoln Center is getting underground. I would be taking the subway home (begrudgingly).
That meant Uniqlo heat tech thermals under-skirt and Paige patent leather lug sole boots to navigate the pools of water that gather on the stairwells of the metro. (Ick)
I appreciate that Garcon upcycles existing suits and clothing, and reimagines them in interesting ways. See her in her atelier below.
The dress style varied last night. Some had strapped in for the crappy weather and went casual. Others, like a mother-2 daughter duo showed up in matching bright red sequined dresses.
Mou, who is in senior leadership in big pharma, elected to go super glam in a gown.
Tchaikovsky wrote “The Nutcracker” as a two-act ballet back in 1892. The story is an adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' 1844 short story The Nutcracker, which in turn is a retelling of E. T. A. Hoffmann's 1816 short story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.
Here’s what I walked away with:
✨ Create moments for clients that are an extension of what you already do. The choice is another way to bring them into your brand and world.
✨ Always take a moment to admire the beauty. Christmas can get quite commercial. Whether it’s a ballet or a quiet Christmas tree in Brooklyn, joy is in what’s around you. Find it.
✨ Not everyone will love your first draft. Tchaikovsky wrote “The Nutcracker” as a two-act ballet back in 1892.
The first performance was at the Imperial Marinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg.
It wasn’t a success. People panned it.
For children dancing in the production.
The big dances or “Pas des Deux” coming in the second act.
The battle scenes between mouse and toy soldiers confusing.
But he kept working at his vision.
It would be 1954 until the Nutcracker graced he hallowed halls of Lincoln Center. George Balanchine, another Russian, founded the New York City Ballet, reworked the production and staged it in 1954.
It’s the version we see today.
Any time I watch the ballet, I marvel that people’s bodies can do such amazing and graceful things.
I also resolve never to eat a carb again.
The subway was quiet last night as I surfaced at the Jay Street Metrotech subway station. The idle person scurrying home to take cover from the cold.
I stopped to take this photo of the beautiful tree in Brooklyn Commons.
It’s a quarter of the size of the one at Rockefeller Center, but it’s mine to admire as I wandered home.
“Is there like an AA equivalent for workaholics?” My haircolorist remarked as I was walking out of the salon.
He pleaded with me to please take some time off this holiday.
Is that even possible when you own your own business in NYC?
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