No 320: the Nutcracker

December always makes me yearn for Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, but singing the Dew Fairy this year seems to have made the desire stronger. The first photograph, taken by Paul Kolnik, is of a performance of George Balanchine's The Nutcracker by New York City Ballet with Sofiane Sylve playing the role of Dewdrop. The following photographs are by Rachel Papo, a photographer with the most keen eye for capturing the beauty of ballet since Edgar Degas, who photographed fittings for the production weeks earlier.

With so many hours logged in costumes fittings and dressing rooms lately, and seemingly endless hours in the next two weeks, I thought I would apologize in advance if my blogging drops off. The next two weeks will entail: 1 orchestral rehearsal, 1 sitzprobe and 1 dress rehearsal of Dido and Aeneas, 3 SFCM performances of Hansel and Gretel, 4 run-out performances of Hansel and Gretel, 1 musical rehearsal with a passel of children for Hansel and Gretel and 2 performances of Dido and Aeneas. Plus my parents, grandmother and favorite cousin arrive in San Francisco and an enormous Greek family reunion commences. That's it, kids-the two longest and most exciting weeks of my life are approaching. And if my blogging sucks, I promise I'll make up for it with really great pictures of my Dew Fairy costume.