The Nutcracker

The definition of a ritual is that “they are repeated, habitual actions, but they are more purposeful than custom; rituals are frequently highly organized and controlled, often meant to indicate or announce membership in a group.”(Sims and Stephens 95) A ritual that I recently went to that some people may not think of as one is the Nutcracker ballet. I thought about it as a ritual because as I looked around and saw all of the families there, they definitely have specific things they do to get ready for the show; whether it would be to eat a special dinner before the show, or to get dressed in their very best Christmas clothes. As a person who had never been to the Nutcracker before, I was almost equally amazed at the way the lobby was decorated as the sets for the show. So much time and effort goes in each year to making the lobby of the MAC look like a winter wonderland just for this specific show. As I looked around the lobby I kept thinking that this goes on all over the world. The Nutcracker is the quintessential Christmas thing to do and every place that shows it probably dresses their lobbies up “to the nines”. I felt so out of place wearing my sweater and jeans because I did not realize that it was such a big deal to dress up in my best clothes. Nevertheless, we found our way to our seats in the second balcony and sat down next to a young girl and her grandmother. The young girl was dressed very nicely and was playing with her ballet Barbie doll. I asked the girl if she was excited and she replied with, “yes, now I know Christmas is soon!”

The entire show was amazing and I am very glad that I have had the chance to experience this ritual. To me, it is not a ritual, and probably never will be, but it is amazing that it means so much to so many different people. The show is definitely highly organized and controlled, even though it is not very frequent. It does indicate membership in a group because most, not all, of the people that go to the show every year are Christian. Even though it was my first time going to the show, and I didn’t understand all of the rituals and experiences surrounding the show, I had a very good time. I thought it was about time to see the Nutcracker and seeing it at the MAC was a great experience. It gave me a new outlook on what exactly the Nutcracker is. Now I will not just think of it as a ballet, but a whole experience that really gives kids something to look forward to.

THis is in response to the Ritual, Festival, and Celebration project.