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.ย 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 haveย the three small ones who are leaping and spinning out of the theater and to our van, right into their booster seats.ย ย 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.ย (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 Theย Washington Ballet.
- For extra entries,ย 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:ย 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.ย 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.ย (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.ย 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.ย 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.ย This is an unsponsored post, and the opinions are all my own.
little holiday notes and lunchbox jokes
What an amazing giveaway!!! The Warner is the absolute best venue to take younger viewers to the “real” theater – it’s big & grand enough to be awe-inspiring but small enough that it’s not overwhelming. As a family of 4, we’ve attended a show for the children’s productions at the Kennedy Center (in the family theater), which mirrors the shape of the Warner, which guides the eye down to the stage. As a local teacher, I treasured the annual trip to the Warner with our 5th graders to see the annual production of the Nutcracker & have been waiting (impatiently?) to take my daughter to the show. Ellie turns 5 next week & this would be the BEST birtthday present I could give her. She has proven to me (through Wolftrap’s Children’s Theate Knuffle Bunny & other live shows, that this is the year that the Nutcracker would be feasible & magical for both of us). My son (2 1/2), while more mature than she was at this age, isn’t ready, but if Ellie & I were awarded this opportunity, we would love to share this with another mother daughter pair & make it an even more amazing “mommy date” for all of us! I’d love the 4 pack of tickets so we could ‘pay it forward’ & share such a delightful day with friends & help create a memory for them. Even if we don’t win the giveaway, I’d love to thank you for doing the legwork on great resoures – I look forward to sharing therm with my daughter.
Benjamin has a real “thing” for nutcrackers this year. Every store we go to had better watch out for the kid who likes to play with nutcrackers. And the older two think they are “good dancers”, so maybe they need to see some other good dancers to get some new ideas. It would be so fun for the whole family.
This would be a wonderful way to spend the evening with family and friends.. ๐ The perfect way to spend an evening of the holiday season.
Thanks much for hosting such a fabulous give away!
We would love to go see the Nutcracker. My husband first mentioned it and I was so surprised by his interest. When we looked at the ticket prices we knew it was out of the budget for this Chirstmas. We would love to have the opportunity to take both our girls ages 6 and 8 years old. They work really hard with their school work and our oldest does a lot of extra work to help her with her skills and this would be an incredible experience for the whole family. We’d love to go. My husband has taken off that whole week because he had some extra days. So, we would be free to go to any of the shows. P.S. We love your Advent Activity Calendar idea. The girls look at it everyday and are so excited to see what is coming next! Thank you!!
This year my daughter is 5.5 – I think the perfect age to attend her first ballet. We missed our opportunity here in Baltimore though as we had family visiting the weekend I wanted to take her. I would adore the chance to take her to the Warner (it’s not in our budget right now). We have listened to the music, read books and I also go the DVD of Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker” last year. I love the DC twist on this production!
E-mail is [email protected]
Recently, while standing in line at the CVS pharmacy, my daughter asked me about the soldier statue for sale, it was a wooden replica of the Nutcracker. I explained to her that it was a nutcracker, showed her how it worked and started to tell her about the ballet surrounding it. She looked ready to go on the spot and the other customers were amused by her enthusiasm. My daughter loves stage productions and has only seen them at the childrenโs theater and our local library. Now would be a wonderful time for our family to share a special production of โThe Nutcrackerโ. It would certainly leave our 4 year old with many extra moments of bright eyed wonder.
What a wonderful giveaway! I’d love to take my 4 year old son to see The Nutcracker. We went every year when I was a kid (along with performing in it every year in our little community ballet) and I’d love to start the tradition again now that my son is old enough to follow the story.
Oh that is an incredible giveaway. Every year we would go with my husband’s family to see the nutcracker in New York but then I had my little girls and they were too young, and I was either nursing or pregnant but this year I could go… but then we moved to Virginia and I thought it would be too long of a drive with the girls to go and then to the city with them… but oh going to see it in D.C. that would be wonderful oh so wonderful.
Any of the dates would be wonderful – We could go on 12/22 at 7PM or 12/22 at 7 – darn afternoon kindergarten doesn’t let us go to the 2 pm show. Thank you for all you do… we are going to Zoo lights because of you!
Wow! We just read a story version of the Nutcracker, but you can’t beat the beautiful music.
What a great giveaway! This would be a great christmassy performance to see with the family at this time of the year.
First of all, thank you for linking to my printable Nutcracker puppets! I hope your kids enjoy the activity.
I would LOVE to take my girls to the Nutcracker in DC. We live in the ‘burbs and have seen local dance theater productions of the Nutcracker but now that my girls are a little older (9 & 12) they would absolutely appreciate seeing it in the big city. Add to that, my older daughter is a gymnast and her floor routine music is from the Nutcracker so it would really help tie it all together for her.
Thanks for the great giveaway!
Char–
Thank YOU for sharing your printable puppets! your site is fab and has the most coloring page printables I’ve ever seen!
I am a regular reader and occasional commenter on Teach Mama. I have “homeschooled” my twin daughters using many of your suggestions. In fact, I just bought all of their Christmas presents using your holiday gift guide!
They will turn three on 12/21. All they want for their birthday is a ballerina outfit, including “real” ballet shoes. We have saved some money and signed them up for their first ballet classes starting in January. The only ballet they have seen is on YouTube, where I have shown them portions of The Nutcracker.
My son is two months old and my daughters have been craving some time together as a family of four (even though they adore their baby brother!). This would be an incredibly magical outing for them, and I believe it would hold their attention for the duration–they can sit through 90 minutes of church.
Thank you for this opportunity! I will forward to some friends and repost.
This wonderful family experience. I can remember as a child going to see PNB nutcracker in Seattle. My son is in love with the music from the nutcracker. My daughter loves the story. This would be a fun, new for us thing for my family.
We went to see the puppet version at Glen Echo, but we’d love to see the ‘real’ thing!
We have been here for six years and have never seen the Nutcracker because I didn’t think the kids were old enough. Sadly, we are moving in the Spring and I’d love to go ahead and take the two older children. I’d like to go to the 5:30 show, because it’s after nap and they can stay up late as a special Christmas treat. Plus, it’s on the 26th, so it extends Christmas another day! My pointe shoes were hung up a long time ago, but I would love to pass my love of dance down to my children.
Oh, wow. My girls would be thrilled to go to the ballet. (Ba-way, my 3 year old says). And while we don’t live nearby, we will be visiting relatives in Maryland for Christmas. Of course, Grandma and cousin Amelia would have to duke it out for the 4th ticket…
Sophia has been begging for 2 years to see the Nutcracker live. I’ve been subjected to the old McCauley Culkin video enough times so seeing it live would be awesome! She keeps saying that one day she’ll be a prima ballerina!
i tweeted! http://twitter.com/thienkim/statuses/14235898396811264
We’ love to take the two older dudes to this! I’ve wanted to see The Nutcracker my entire life and have yet to make it there. They are a great age to join me and my mom so we can leave Dumb Dad home with Dude #3!
My daughter has recently fallen in love with ballet – and a visit to the Nutcracker would be quite a treat! My son has always enjoyed live performances. Thanks for sponsoring the contest!
Both of my girls are in ballet this year and they would both love to see the Nutcracker. It would be such an awesome experience. When I was a kid, my grandparents used to take us to see it every year by the Milwaukee ballet (i lived in WI). It brings back such great memories. I haven’t seen it since my grandparents took me so it’s been a long time for me too.
We last saw the Nutcracker Ballet as a family in 2002. My son was not born until 2003. My son talks about the Nutcracker story all the time. He has seen the Macaulay Culkin movie at school. He painted a nutcracker in his afterschool art class. I would like to take him to see the show.
I tweeted the giveaway! http://twitter.com/#!/musingsfromme/status/14338448198467584
My Brother and his family are moving back to Colorado in a few short months and I would love to take my son and his best friend, his cousin, and my best friend my sister in law to something completely DC before they leave this great city. I will miss them terribly as will my children and I want to capture as many memories toegther as possible! And I can’t think of a better way to do that then celebrating Christmas in DC while watching the nutcracker with the people I love.
When I was young growing up around DC, my stepmother would take the family to see the Joffrey Ballet perform the Nutcracker in the city. I was mesmerized by the feast of colors & the beautiful movement of the dancers. I have told my 4 daughters since they were little that I wanted to take them into DC to see The Nutcracker, but let life march on & have never done it! I want them to experience the awe & love of the art that seeing this ballet gave me. Now that my beloved stepmother is gone, I want to carry on this tradition that we had with her.
Love this giveaway! The reason why it’s a great time for my family to see The Nutcracker is because it’s a family tradition – I even posted about it on Shine.
(P.S. I also tweeted!)
Itโs a good time for my family to see The Nutcracker by The Washington Ballet bc it’ll become a family tradition!! My son will love the costumes and the story!
For my extra entry, I shared this post with my friends at work – esp Meghan T.
In 2007 my father passed. Christmas was always my dad’s favorite. My mother and father had known each other since 1st grade. The Nutcracker became a family favorite many years ago when my 3 daughters were in ballet. We have not seen the Nutcracker since 2006. I would love to take mom this year but my own financial circumstances prevent me from being able to get tickets. To win tickets would truely be the best gift of the season.
And don’t forget about the wonderful Nutcracker adaptation they do at Glen Echo in the puppet theater! Very engaging and memorable for preschoolers, and good background for seeing the whole ballet at an older age.
SO, so, so smart!! Thank you a TON for letting us know about this–awesome!!
My 6yo just went to an assembly at school a few days ago which featured ballet dancers dancing to some of the Nutcracker and she came home SO excited. I’m sure she’d be thrilled to go see this (as would her little sister!)
I tweeted! http://twitter.com/ohMariana/statuses/15217098896707584
I’d love to win tickets to the Nutcracker for my granddaughters. They’re at the perfect age to see it live!
I shared this giveaway at Facebook
a local winner was chosen by random.org and she was notified! many thanks for entering!
Itโs a good time for my family to see The Nutcracker by The Washington Ballet bc it’ll become a family tradition!! My son will love the costumes and the story!
Latoya–
I’m so sorry. The giveaway ended last Wed, my friend. Hope that you have a super holiday and many thanks for reading!
My husband and I love this play and it reminds us of our first date to the nutcracker. We would love to win the free tickets!
I also shared this with my friend Kimberly.
Please pick me this was my wife and mines first date and I would live to take her for our anniversary
We just moved to the DC area in August from Nashville. I have taken my daughter (now 11 years old) to see the Nutcracker since she was 2 hears old. This was in memory of my Mother, her Grandmother’s birthday which is December 16th. Although my daughter barely remembers my Mother I know my Mom loves that we have this very special tradition together. In the past two years my husband and son (10 years old) have joined us. They both enjoyed and appreciated the beauty of the ballet and my son especially loves the story. We collect Nutcrackers and he has always loved playing with them. The Nashville Ballet’s version of The Nutcracker is lovely and a little more affordable. These tickets would mean so much to our family. We would all be able to attend, that would be a nice treat. Thank You, Kate Tingen