new for us friday: the nutcracker by the washington ballet (and ticket giveaway!)

The Nutcracker? Yes!

By the Washington Ballet!? Yes!

We’re really going and giving away 4 tickets to a reader? Yes and YES!

Do I have a few tricks up my sleeve to prepare for the show? Absolutely!

This New For Us Friday is so new that we haven’t even done it yet, but we will be doing it between now and Christmas–and so will another family!

One teach mama reader will win a family 4-pack of tickets to The Nutcracker at the Warner Theater, thanks to the very kind folks at The Washington Ballet.

How perfectly holiday festive and exciting is that?!

Here’s the skinny:

• The Nutcracker, by the Washington Ballet: Between now and Christmas, our family will attend our first-ever ballet at the Warner Theater, and what better show to begin with than The Nutcracker?!

I cannot even believe it, and once our kids find out–when they wake up, check their Advent Calendar, and then are hit with this totally cool surprise, they’ll be over the moon.

The awesome thing about The Nutcracker a la The Washington Ballet is that this is not your ole standard Nutcracker ballet; it’s The Nutcracker with a Washington, DC spin. The heroic George Washington is the Nutcracker, King George III is the Rat King, and the cherry blossoms dance on the Potomac.  I’d say that’s pretty DC-fab.

And I’m betting that my DC-local kiddos will totally love the show and will be dancing their way to the car and begging for ballet shoes the minute the the curtain falls. I’ll have  the three small ones who are leaping and spinning out of the theater and to our van, right into their booster seats.   Just please give them a clap or two if you spot them.

Looking forward to this exciting New-For-Us-Friday ballet to ring in the holidays and celebrate Washington, DC.

GIVEAWAY: A family 4 pack of tickets to Septime Webre’s The Nutcracker by The Washington Ballet on 12/21, 7pm; 12/22, 2 pm; 12/22, 7 pm; or 12/26, 5:30 pm at the Warner Theater.  (Winner chooses show date.)

Do you want to win 4 tickets to The Nutcracker at the Warner Theater??

• Leave a comment here (along with your email address) simply telling me why it’s a good time for your family to see The Nutcracker by The  Washington Ballet.
  

• For extra entries,  you can share this post with a friend (just tell me who you shared it with!) OR Tweet this: Win four tickets to The Nutcracker by The Washington Ballet at @teachmama http://teachmama.com/?p=826 #holiday

This contest ends on Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at midnight ET.

Want to see the show asap and not worry about the giveaway?

• Visit the Warner Theater and buy tickets in person;
• Call Ticketmaster:  202.397.7328;
• Buy them online via Ticketmaster: Septime Weber’s The Nutcracker.

Because my kiddos are young and they’ve yet to see The Nutcracker, before our show I’ll definitely do a bit to prepare them. Here’s what I’ve got planned:

• Books — I’ll hit the library early next week and grab a few Nutcracker reads.  I’ll look for Janet Schulman’s The Nutcracker, E.T.A. Hoffman’s Nutcracker, or Diane Goode’s The Story of the Nutcracker Ballet.
• Coloring and Activity Pages — If I can find Dover’s The Story of the Nutcracker, I’ll pick it up; otherwise I’ll just print out a page from The Nutcracker Coloring Book, Printable Nutcracker Puppets, or more Nutcracker Coloring Pages.  (Watch out for ads on all these sites, though!)
• The Washington Ballet Videos — I’ll show the kids some highlights of The Washington Ballet’s The Nutcracker and some clips of TWB rehearsing and dancing and Septime Webre talking.  Great way to give little ones some idea about what to expect at the show!
• Peter Tchaikovsky on Starfall — My kids are Starfall nutty, so directing them to this particular page will be helpful for getting them ready for the very basics of the story and the incredible music and sounds they’ll hear.
• Nutcracker Activity Guide — Extremely helpful pdf guide to everything Nutcracker, this guide was created by the San Francisco Ballet and includes facts, history, play-by-play of the ballet, Nutcracker Mad Libs, Word Searches, and games.  It’s catered to the SF Ballet, but it can be helpful for anyone I believe.

Many thanks to the great folks at The Washington Ballet for providing my family with the tickets for this show and for the tickets for the giveaway.  This is an unsponsored post, and the opinions are all my own.