For those who haven’t yet started the summer road trip to the beach or are staying in Gauteng for the holidays, there are two, must-see Christmas family shows in Johannesburg.
The Nutcracker on Ice
The Teatro at Montecasino is one of my favourite venues and according to Artistic Director Tony Mercer, creator of contemporary theatre-on-ice; it is a world class venue and the reason for The Nutcracker on Ice to be performed in Johannesburg. In fact, The Imperial Ice Stars premier The Nutcracker on Ice at Montecasino from 8 December 2011 t0 15 January 2012 due to persuasion from Pieter Torien, presenter of the show, (stated by Tony Mercer).
The Nutcracker, which was first performed in St Petersburg in 1892, has been blended with the brilliant talent on ice by a cast of 25 international performers, including a Cape Town born aerial gymnast, Fiona Kirk. The combination of graceful ballet on ice with leaps, throws, and turns at high-speeds as well as acrobatics, all to Tchaikovsky, kept my entire family glued to the stage. The stage settings ‘wowed’ us in the audience with glamour, lights and story flowing.
The story, a Christmas favourite, revolves around the classic where a little girl receives a magical Christmas gift from her mysterious godfather of a Nutcracker doll. Her love brings the doll to life and this leads her to adventures with the Mouse King, the enchanted Prince, and the Sugar Plum Fairy.
My favourite part was the skating in the woods as well as the nostalgic living room with the decorative Christmas tree. It is a fantastic show for the whole family.
You can book for the show at www.computicket.co.za.
South African Lipizzaners Christmas Spectacular
It was by chance, or maybe design, that I spotted the advert for the annual South African Lipizzaner’s Christmas Spectacular just before my mother and mother-in-law visited me, my partner and son. We all headed early to the equestrian Lipizzaner’s home in Kyalami to get front row seats in their indoor arena.
The show incorporated Carols by Candlelight with the Welsh National Male Voice Choir of South Africa interspersed with a narrative on the Lipizzaner and of course a balletic display of the White Stallions and horsemanship, (or more appropriately horsewomanship).
According to the Lipizzaner website: “In 1944 a select few Lipizzaners were rescued from war-torn Austria and brought to South Africa by Count Jankovich-Besan. The stallions at Kyalami are direct descendants of those horses and their predecessors”.
As their predecessors had been trained, the stallions performed war-time movements, but this time for atheistic purposes. The sight of a white stallion, all four legs off the ground, kicking in the air and landing gently back onto the ground was much like the leaps and jumps of the professional ice-skaters’ ballet performance.
We were also privileged to watch the energetic colts running poetically around before returning to their handlers as the music stopped. They too would develop to perform a similar rhythmic and choreographic dressage performance as the solo rider demonstrated. I was amased to see horses skip and trot on the spot in time to the music.
From young to old, we were all entertained and will be back next year this wonderful Christmas show.
You can book for the show at www.computicket.co.za.
