Now Playing: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, "The Nutcracker", Act I, Scene I, "March".

Tonight Rachel Sr., Crystal, Jenny M., and I went to see The Nutcracker at the Tulsa Performing Arts Centre. Quite a lovely production, though not entirely traditional: they had changed the storyline significantly and cut out a couple of the dances. Nonetheless, it was a lovely production. It was set in 1920s France, and the two main sets were the Opera Garnier and the mirror room at Versailles, both of which made me delighted thanks to last Christmas's happiness. The costumes were lovely, particularly for the girls, of course--long 1920s-style dresses and simple sparkling tiaras, sometimes with single feathers in them, very elegant.

The music for this work is so full of joy that had it been a performance simply of the music alone I would have been happy. Gorgeous lush harp runs in Act 2 in particular. The dancing was elegant, serene, courteous, gracious, full of spectacular lifts and leaps, which seemed to be the strong point of the company.

There was, however, somehow a slight disjunct between the dancing and the music, something that didn't quite mesh properly. Jenny and I agreed that a purely traditional performance would be satisfying to see someday.

It's so windy here. Think Causeway Coast from January to March. The wind thrums in the walls and the floor (our apartment is on the third storey) and rattles in a piece of loose gutter and shakes the windows.

Almost finished with finals. All I have left is an Honors essay and a take-home exam for Philosophy of Art. The Honors paper is as good as done, and the take-home will be finished by Monday at teatime.