© Contributed by Anne Marie Bloodgood Dancers from Ballet Austin perform in the 2019 version of 'The Nutcracker.' Ballet Austin filmed performances last year, not knowing the pandemic would make live performances impossible this year.

Why watch Ballet Austin’s “The Nutcracker” on film this season?

Nutcracker Ballet Free

• THE NUTCRACKER BALLET COOKIE CUTTER SET - Celebrate the holidays with Nutcracker-themed cookies. Made in the USA - Manufactured in America with certified food safe American steel Variety – For over 30 years the Clark Family has specialized in original designs for creative baking.
• The Nutcracker Cookies & Cocoa benefitting the Springfield Ballet on November 22, 2020. Photos by Ryan Kowalski.

Let’s see: It’s “The Nutcracker.” That should be enough.

I probably haven’t skipped this holiday treat, either live or filmed, since my grandmother took me and my sister to see a touring production in Dallas some 60 years ago. My sister and I promptly staged our own version in the living room. I know we were not alone.

Another reason: Farsighted Ballet Austin filmed its 2019 rendition, not knowing then that we would not be able to see the show at the Long Center in 2020 because of a pandemic.

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I am happy to report that the film, produced and edited by Paul Michael Bloodgood, with Cookie Ruiz and Stephen Mills acting as executive producers, looks and sounds gorgeous.

Since three cameras were used, we see the stage from a distance as well as up close and from different angles. This is akin to reserving three different seats in a large auditorium without having to race from one to the other to gain the best view of each sequence.

My first impression, while watching the party scene in the first act: This “Nutcracker” stands up to very close scrutiny. Traditionally, costumes, sets and props for shows that are staged in large auditoriums scrimp on details because, after all, who is going to see them from Row DD?

In this case, the most minute item stands out. OK, yes, that includes the inevitable small wrinkles in the painted backdrops. But who’s counting?

In San Francisco Ballet's 'Nutcracker,' Mother Ginger's skirt is also: (a) A cottage with a real smoking chimney. (b) A candy store with goodies spilling out of the pockets. (c) A cookie jar. Nutcracker Ballet Cookie Set $ 48.00. Set includes 12 large cookies. Writing/Text on Cookie $. Color Choice. Make the colors exactly like the picture. $ No, I want to pick my own colors. Grey $ Peach $ Mint $ Brown $ Hot Pink $ Light Pink $. Perennial favorite The Nutcracker returns this holiday season—but in true 2020 style, this year sees The Joffrey Ballet production virtually and at a social distance. The Snowflakes with set design by Julian Crouch. The annual pilgrimage to take in The Nutcracker is as synonymous with the season as hot cocoa by the fire, tinsel-trimmed trees and mistletoe in thresholds.

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This proximity to the performances onstage also makes it impossible to hide any flaws in the dancing. Not to worry: The company has grown so uniformly adept during the Stephen Mills era that we can just sit back and enjoy the mostly charming social interaction, miming and dancing during the opening party scene; the marching, fighting and cooing among the children at the party; the enlarged scariness of the nightmare battle scene; and, especially, the dazzling Snow Queen (Elise Pekarek) and her Snow King (Orlando Julius Canova) with their corps of slightly varied Snowflakes whirling around in a light, steady snowfall.

Who doesn’t love a tightly arranged and finely tuned corps de ballet? How do they not slip and slide on those confettilike flakes? And who can resist this kind of spectacular first-act finale, aided by Tchaikovsky’s immortal music?

During the second act, which takes place in the Court of the Sugar Plum Fairy (top-flight Jaime Lynn Witts), it’s all dance, all the time. No more story to follow. These showy color pieces, which have evolved over time, are the heart of the ballet for me.

Nutcracker Ballet Cookies

It’s hard to play favorites among them. In fact, it’s impossible. Each piece, graced with some extraordinary choreography, stood on its own. And each dancer made what will be, thanks to this film, a lasting statement with their performances.

Although I will say that former Longhorns football players, such as wide receiver Quan Cosby in 2019, make particularly good guest Mother Gingers.

Nutcracker Ballet Gingerbread Cookies

My advice: Take pleasure in it all. Stream it often, for as long as your Ballet Austin gift option allows you to do so. And wouldn’t it be great if the troupe’s catalog of films was, by some kind of reverse contractual magic with each artist, made available this way?

How to watch

Nutcracker Ballet Streaming

A gift of $30 to the nonprofit gives your family nine days to watch the digital recording, through Dec. 20. A gift of $100 or more allows your group until the end of the year to see the film, as well as access to interviews, holiday recipes, holiday-themed dance classes and more. For more information, go to balletaustin.org.

Nutcracker Ballet Seattle

This article originally appeared on Austin 360: Review: Ballet's Austin's filmed 'Nutcracker' is grand, gorgeous