Nutcracker Ballet - Part 3 Waltz of the Snowflakes

This past Saturday I had the great fortune of seeing the Houston Ballet perform The Nutcracker. It was amazing! I wish they posted videos on youtube of their rendition of the ballet, I really liked the set, props, and most of all the choreography. My favorite was the Arabic dance, which I will post about later.

We last left off at the  house party where Clara and her family and friends were celebrating Christmas Eve. After the party ends and Clara goes to bed, she is suddenly awoken by a swarm of rats attacking the toy soldiers inside her house. Her nutcracker comes to the rescue, and at the end of the battle he turns into a price and whisks her away to another land.

As they travel to this new land, they meet the snow queen and her snowflakes, and together they perform a charming dance, set to beautiful music written by Tchaikovsky. In some versions, Clara and the nutcracker prince are the soloists, such as the video below. In the Houston Ballet version I saw on Saturday, the Snow queen performs as the soloist with the prince. Both are equally stunning!

The Nutcracker Ballet - Act I - Waltz of the Snowflakes
Composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)