Surviving the Last Days of Nutcracker: Our Top Tips

December 26, 2016


Nutcracker
is always a bit of a slog. But in the days between Christmas and New Year’s? Ayyyyyyyy. Sure, the end of the run is in sight, but that also means you’ve already put your poor feet through dozens of shows. And without all the holly-jolliness of holiday shopping and cookie baking and present wrapping to distract you from how much your body hurts, YOUR BODY HURTS SO DARN MUCH.

MOOD.

That’s why we’ve rounded up our top five Nutcracker survival tips. Because you need them more this week than ever. Because with a little bit of self-care and a lotta bit of mental steeling, you can do it.

1. Eat smart
. You need to fuel that aching instrument of yours properly! Try following former San Francisco Ballet and current Dutch National Ballet dancer Kristina Lind’s Nutcracker diet, which involves lots of fish, fresh vegetables and healthy snacks.

2. But also, eat more cookies.
Take a tip from former Boston Ballet and now American Ballet Theatre principal Jeffrey Cirio: Cookies are delicious, and boy, have you ever earned them.

3. Mix up your makeup.
Have a little fun with it! Why not try out the SUPER big fake lashes for show #30? Or add a little shimmer to your skin for show #35? Boston Ballet principal Lia Cirio (yup, she and Jeff are siblings—so cute) is all about glitter: “I love getting to sparkle for the audience, especially the children.”

4. Play a
Nut
brain game.
When Kathryn Morgan was doing 40+ Nutcrackers a year with New York City Ballet, she and her castmates would fight the doldrums by thinking of a “theme” for each performance. “We might say, ‘Tonight, everyone dance as your favorite Disney princess!’ Or, ‘Let’s be kids playing in the snow on Christmas morning!’ ” How fun is that?

5. Remember that each and every show, someone in the audience is seeing ballet for the first time.
More words of wisdom from Lia C: “Nutcracker helped me fall in love with ballet, and now I’m living my dream. Who knows–I could be helping someone else’s dreams come true!”

Merde, all you special Snowflakes!


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