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BOSTON — Seeing the Boston Ballet perform The Nutcracker is a New England tradition. It’s one of our “things” here in the Bean.

Blast attended on Tuesday, and we were really moved by the performance that balanced the playful with the traditional to weave a classic masterpiece into fun for all ages.

From the cutest little black sheep purposefully a step behind his brothers to the angels opening Act II from the Boston Ballet School, The Nutcracker is two hours of your life well spent.

It is a show that will feel very familiar to anyone, even if you haven’t been to a ballet before — and we know college students and 20-somethings tend to not see enough live theater. The music will take you away, and the familiar scenes like the always crowd-favorite Russian dancers will make you feel like part of the show.

My favorite scene is the sensual Arabian Dance with its unbelievably beautiful music (listen) and dancing. The Boston Ballet performs this scene and all others wonderfully.

There are six more shows, two on each day, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so get your tickets now. Tuesday’s show was sold out.

Tickets start at $30, and there are group and student discounts abound.

The Nutcracker is a fairy tale ballet in two acts by Peter Tchaikovsky in the 1890s.

We all love movies, no doubt, but our generation really needs to pay more attention to theater, opera and ballet. There is nothing in the world like a live show, and some of the moves these dancers pull off are enough to make anyone gasp — you just KNOW that was difficult.

The Boston Ballet has settled into its new home at the Boston Opera House. It’s a wonderful ballet company that has been sorely under appreciated and underfunded in Boston, as the commercial Citi Center does all it can to bring in talent from New York and elsewhere.

The Nutcracker is a bold reminder that Boston’s home-grown talent is a world-class force. More plainly: it’s a reminder that Boston’s home-grown talent is awesome.

The Boston Ballet has a busy 2009 coming up, including an April-May run of The Sleeping Beauty that’s not to be missed either.

About The Author

John Guilfoil is the editor-in-chief of Blast: Boston's Online Magazine and the Blast Magazine Network. He can be reached at [email protected]. Tweet @johnguilfoil.

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