Casse-Noisette et . . . Juliette!

Salut mes amis,

Joyeux Noël, Merry Christmas! The year has been pretty exciting for my dear little sister. She auditioned for Rudolf Nureyev's production of Casse-Noisette (The Nutcracker) at the Paris Opera House this year . . . and was cast as a Party Girl! C'est un honneur d'avoir été choisi, and Juliette was thrilled to accept the role. It is her dream to play Clara, the lead role in Casse-Noisette, and this is definitely one step closer. She's a little young to play Clara in the Nureyev production at the moment, though! 

 

I couldn't miss my sister in her starring role, so I flew home to Paris when classes let out for holiday vacation. It was a little bizarre to see my little sister in such a grown-up production, but she nailed it, dancing each step flawlessly. If she was nervous, she sure didn't show it! Ludmila Pagliero played Clara that first night I saw the show (I'm seeing it again with mes grand-parents, who are visiting this week!). Ludmila is 31 years old! Juliette has many more years of hard work to go before following in Ludmila's footsteps, haha. She'll get there, though. I have faith! 

Ludmila was gorgeous as Clara! She's of Argentinian descent and joined Paris Opera Ballet in 2003. If you'd like to see her dance, check out last year's performance of La Belle au bois dormant (The Sleeping Beauty):

We took numerous photos of Juliette in her Party Girl costume, but of course. Doesn't the costume suit her? The green really brings out her eyes.

We were also able to snap some photos of Juliette with two of the other company dancers. Here she is with the Sugar Plum Fairy and one of the Flowers: 

After the performance, I presented our little étoile with a bouquet of yellow roses. It's always a tradition to give flowers to your favorite dancer. The parents insisted on getting some photos of us together, too . . .

Have you ever seen The Nutcracker?  What's your favorite ballet? 

Ton amie,
Sophie