The Nutcracker Tickets

First and foremost, the performance was outstanding. The ballet dancers were impressive. The costumes and set were adequate for a world-class performance. The orchestra was impeccable. On the other hand, the audience was appalling, disrespectful, and lacked all sense of manners. A few rules should have been set forth by the venue. For example, the attendants should not allow late-comers to take their seat until intermission. Also, the concessions should not be allowed inside the seating area. A dress code and age minimum should also be enforced. The distractions from the audience including talking and giggling the entire play, opening soda cans, eating cotton candy, leaving before the final curtain, and crying babies. People left their seats whenever they felt the need for more concessions, etc. After specific instructions at the beginning of the ballet not to take any photographs, people used flash photography; maybe these were the people who showed up late. At the end of the ballet, trash was strewn throughout the seating area. I felt as though the audience behaved like a crowd at a high school basketball game, not the ballet. I have been to movie theaters where people act more respectful. During intermission, I moved to a different seat to avoid the chatting people adjacent to me only to find myself in front of a family eating cotton candy. The crinkling of plastic and opening of soda cans prompted a few disappointing looks backward from me and the annoyed audience members around me. The family munching on cotton candy finally understood our body language and moved to another section, only to receive the same scowls there. Most of the audience members dressed appropriately, but some parents in jeans and un-tucked shirts brought their children in pajama bottoms. The example set by these parents for their children is a complete lack of manners, etiquette, and respect for the professional ballet dancers who bring this beautiful art form to San Antonio. After experiencing the disrespect given by the citizens of San Antonio, I will not return to see a ballet at Municipal Auditorium.

There are several standard substitutions in the Nutcracker, some characters are frequently changed out for others, but the Sugarplum Fairies are a mainstay and are never changed traditionally. My wife and I expected to see the real nutcracker and instead, it seemed that we saw an artistic interpretation of it without some of our favorite characters. It also seemed that much of the dancing was watered down. Act II was also very noticeably out of order. I would have had much less of a problem with other issues if the characters had been standard. I hope that the Space Coast ballet decides to go back to the original interpretation of the ballet.

We have taken our grandchildren to Nutcracker many times, but this was without a doubt the best we have ever seen. The symphony was in great form; the choreography added little touches that moved the story line forward. The dancers were all beyond competent, and the principals were especially fine and well-balanced. This Clara was so much better than what we have come to expect that we were awe-struck. Bravo/brava all around.

Seeing The Nutcracker is a family Christmas tradition in our house. The Space Coast Ballet never disappoints. I just wish the King Center had advertised the show times better.

It was a packed house full of a great mix of young and old viewers alike. The dancers (for the most part) were flawless. The orchestra was unreal. The only hiccup was that it was the same night as the Santa Claus Parade, but that was just a great excuse to arrive early and go for a nice dinner with my wife.

There were an amazing number of dancers, well trained, and working beautifully together at this ballet. The costumes and sets were gorgeous too. There were fire work effects which I had not seen before. Our only complaint is that it took too long to get out of the parking lot after the performance. The traffic was congested. Entering the parking lot was rather slow before the performance as well.

Both Acts were great. Our three kids (ages 11, 8 and 7) all enjoyed the performance.

Taking my family to see the Nutcracker has been a tradition for 30 years. It is a joy to now share this holiday event with my grandchildren. Last night's performance, however, revealed some notable changes in costumes and choreography. The Chinese dancers were wearing costumes that looked like pyjamas from Victoria Secrets. The Arabian dancer was not nearly as interesting as the one who emerged from the large basket in years past. Finally, the Russian dancers just seemed to move much like all the rest, and we missed the characteristic Russian 'kick" maneuver (sorry, I'm not a choreographer..don't know what it's called) with folded arms. There were other subtle differences in choreography; things missing, particularly. Many of the scenes just seemed the same as the others. Nevertheless, the set was beautiful, the music enchanting, and the memory made with my family is most important, at the end of the day.

Excellent production, best Nuttcracker we had ever been to. No noticeable problems, even the little kids were perfect.

Extremely fascinating. It was fun to watch both by children and adults.

I think that The Nutcracker was a good performance, but there were things that I found to be a bit different. For one, there was no nephew, but that could be due to lack of teenage boys.

low budget production but good ballet dancers Overall good college performance

The performance is absolutely amazing! The dancers are so graceful and talented! When we leave, my daughter dances around everywhere for days!!!

Saw this at the Hippodrome in December 2009. Sets were very beautiful and so were all the costumes. Kids not from Pittsburgh may not get the Kaufmann's storybook that the characters come out of. Maria/Clara was stunning, but the other ballerinas lacked some energy, as did the Russian dancers. Plenty of kids small and big in this production that made for a fun family event.

The dancing was good. The women were very good. The venue wasn't very good. We had a hard time seeing over the people in front of us.

We take my daughter to see this every year. Wonderful ballet dancing ( I am not a ballet dancer myself so cannot comment on technical aspects), very entertaining, great rendition of the Nutcracker.

It was a great event a certainly suggested for families as a seasonal yearly tradition.

Going to the Nutcracker Ballet is an annual tradition for my now 11 year old daughter and I. We chose the Arts SA version this year because the date (Friday Dec.4) worked best for us. We had never been to the Arts SA show before, but entered the Auditorium with anticipation of a special night of beautiful scenery, costumes, dance and music. With the troupe billed as Russian, our expectations were high. The SA Symphony overture began, and we listened to their lovely music. Then the curtain rose, and our excitement fell to disappointment. The costumes were not beautiful, the scenery was boring and minimal, and the dancing, with the exception of a few dancers, was mediocre at best, with several principals losing balance during their uninspired choreography. We did enjoy the Nutcracker prince, and longed for more from the Chinese doll dancer. The corps de ballet were very small, with very few men. Two men in the party scene did not even appear to be dancers at all, just poor actors. I wish I could give a more complimentary review, but we were very disappointed and underwhelmed by the whole show. We will not be attending the Arts SA version again.

Incredible costumes, nice interpretation, we loved it!

The ballet presentation was impecable. Dancers were all on-point, from the youngest to the eldest. Well done!