![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
A few weeks ago, my baby brother said he'd never seen the Nutcracker and was there one on Youtube or something we could watch as a family while I was home for the weekend?
And I said sure, and went on Youtube, and the first one that popped up was the Russian State Ballet and Opera House. For those of you who don't know, ballets are often re-choreographed, keeping the same music and plot beats, so there are a number of different versions floating around. The one we see most often in the US is George Ballanchine's choreography, and as a personal thing I'm just not that into his choreography in general, so I wanted something different, and I figured the Russians would a) not do Ballanchine's choreography, and b) probably do a solid job. (I was hoping for a Royal Ballet (UK) production, I generally love their stuff, but alas there are clips of their Nutcracker on Youtube but not the whole thing.) I figured the Russian State Ballet would be fine, and we watched it.
Reader, it was not fine. I spent the whole hour and a half bitching about it. ("Why isn't Herr Drosselmeyer wearing a cape? WHY ISN'T THE TREE GROWING, IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE GROWING! Why isn't there any snow falling on the snowflakes? Where's the carriage?") My brother found this very entertaining, but he actually does want to see a good version with all the trimmings.
So! I am asking for recommendations. If you have a filmed version of the Nutcracker ballet you like, please drop me a link in the comments! (Ballanchine's choreography is okay, my main concern is that it a) have all the classic moments of the ballet and b) do them well.)
And I said sure, and went on Youtube, and the first one that popped up was the Russian State Ballet and Opera House. For those of you who don't know, ballets are often re-choreographed, keeping the same music and plot beats, so there are a number of different versions floating around. The one we see most often in the US is George Ballanchine's choreography, and as a personal thing I'm just not that into his choreography in general, so I wanted something different, and I figured the Russians would a) not do Ballanchine's choreography, and b) probably do a solid job. (I was hoping for a Royal Ballet (UK) production, I generally love their stuff, but alas there are clips of their Nutcracker on Youtube but not the whole thing.) I figured the Russian State Ballet would be fine, and we watched it.
Reader, it was not fine. I spent the whole hour and a half bitching about it. ("Why isn't Herr Drosselmeyer wearing a cape? WHY ISN'T THE TREE GROWING, IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE GROWING! Why isn't there any snow falling on the snowflakes? Where's the carriage?") My brother found this very entertaining, but he actually does want to see a good version with all the trimmings.
So! I am asking for recommendations. If you have a filmed version of the Nutcracker ballet you like, please drop me a link in the comments! (Ballanchine's choreography is okay, my main concern is that it a) have all the classic moments of the ballet and b) do them well.)
