Los Angeles Ballet Presents The Nutcracker Tickets

I have seen many, many versions of the Nutcracker over the years - and L. A. Ballet's version was fresh and truly lovely. How wonderful to have a young Drosselmayer! The early part of the ballet in the living room was light and fun, not maddenly slow, like so many other productions. Beautiful throughout - a real Christmastime confection!

I was so excited to bring my daughter to this production. We've made the Nutcracker a family tradition for the holiday season, and we looked forward to this for months. Now, perhaps our standards were a little high after having the privilege of seeing the Kirov Ballet perform this suite at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion a few years back, but we felt the LA Ballet production was on par with that of a high school performance. With the price they charged for tickets, I was shocked there was no live music, and instead they danced to CD music being piped in through speakers. It is my understanding the ballet Director's daughter was the principal dancer, which leaves me feeling this is nothing more than an attempt to garner more attention for her (and her dancing skills weren't even that remarkable.) "LA Ballet" leads one to believe this organization is much larger and prestigious than it really is. If I could have left and gotten a refund I would have done so. Save your money for something better.

There were 3 dancers in the second act that ultimately made this a worthwhile outing, but otherwise our party found it rather disappointing. I suppose a live orchestra is not in the budget for such a modest production, but that does not excuse weak choreography, very inconsistent levels of dancing and a total lack of story-telling and character development. The first act was very flat with more Vanna White posturing than actual dancing and most of the choreography in general was unremarkable. There was no real story or character development either. Godfather Drosselmeyer looked like a foppish blond pimp in a white fur coat with bling and they left out the Sugarplum fairy altogether. A number of roles, including the lead, were played by much younger dancers who didn't seem ready for a professional gig. Some dancers stood looking bored on stage when it was not their time to dance. The technique was varying at best with couple young women who didn't look wholly comfortable en pointe yet. The Arabian Dance, the Waltz of the Flowers (The Rose character in particular) and a solo by visiting fellow from Japan in the role of one of Clara's dolls grown up ( toy soldier perhaps?) were all exceptional, however. For them alone, we found it worthwhile, though I wouldn't be quick to pay money to see this company perform again. Rather amateurish.

I got these tickets as a gift for my aunt, and she absolutely loved it. She thought the dancing and the story were beautiful, and there were kids performing which added a special something to the event. Personally, I was pretty bored with it after the first minute, but I'm 18 and have no sense of fine culture, so what do I know. My one real criticism is that there was no live band, which was a bummer. Bottom line, I reccomend this show to anyone who enjoys ballet or dance in general. To those who don't, what are you doing looking up ballet tickets anyway?

This was the first time I have seen The Nutcracker in a few years and thought the performance was mediocre. I have seen it three times before, all of them at the Fox Theatre in Detroit and this experience paled in comparison. The music was a CD or something, while previous versions were played by a symphony and the ballet artists were extremely young, but very talented compared against more seasoned ballerinas. By no mean am I a ballet snob and would highly recommend it to those who have never been before. This was my wife's first time to see The Nutcracker or any ballet for that matter and she extremely enjoyed the whole experiece. The venue was decent as well. I personally would not see it again, but once would not be a waste of time.