"A Christmas Carol" wasn't the only show that had been put on at Christmas for the enjoyment of everyone in Lyre and Animalia to enjoy the Christmas season. The other was to essentially recreate the "Nutcracker Suite." The ballet was popular at Christmas and was well known for its music and it was something that gave Vivian and Zeus a great deal of happiness. Vivian happiness to be in such an iconic ballet again and Zeus to see his wife/bond-mate happy.
And the show had gone well and earned plenty of positive reviews, both online and in the local paper. Lyre and Animalia weren't quite big enough to have their own newspaper. The closest thing they had to that was Animalia Ambassadoria, which really only served to provide updates on things going on in Animalia and show where Animalia had its successes and wasn't so different from humanity. In that it wasn't a true news organization, even if news and updates was included in the web show. Some might have also called it repetitive propaganda, but that really didn't fit either, as Vivian had never seem them present anything that was exaggerated to the point of being false.
A nearby town that was both larger than Lyre and Animalia and did produce an actual newspaper and sent copies of it to Lyre and Animalia for them to read. That wasn't surprising to Vivian though. What had surprised Vivian the most was that the paper had sent a reporter to Lyre/Animalia and had approached her for an interview as show ended, and as Vivian looked to the front of her refrigerator where the review was posted, she smiled in the memory.
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"You wish to talk to me?" Vivian gasped in surprise as she stood there in the costume she had for the role of Clara.
"Yes," the reporter gave an honest smile, "so much of Animalia has been new and how its society is adapting to many aspects of human and even American society... I mean a day or two ago they put on a rendition of Charles Dickins' "A Christmas Carol" and now you've just done the "Nutcracker Suite." It's quite something to see."
"Yes," Vivian answered, "The Nutcracker has been a fine ballet and one that is heavily associated with Christmas. And with a new dance school being established to teach Animalians the fine art of ballet... the Nutcracker is the perfect way to advertise the school."
The reporter nodded as Vivian visibly beamed with pride. As the ballet had gone quite well, from all its parts. The opening Christmas party with Clara, played by Vivian getting the toy nutcracker from the mysterious Herr Drosselmeyer. It then progressed through the dream of Drosselmeyer using his magic to bring the Nutcracker to life and battle the Mouse King and take Clara on a grand adventure, and of course, as in traditional ballet... there was no spoken words or lines. Only the grand music, played via a CD player to the then play the various songs written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky for the ballet. It wasn't quite perfect, but it had worked out quite well and the story seemed well understood.
Vivian remembered a frightened squeak emanate from the audience during the battle between the Mouse King and the Nutcracker, but she couldn't quite remember where it'd come from and course of the performance she couldn't follow it.
"And the cast members were students?" the reporter asked, referring to many of the performers.
"Many of the extras, yes," Vivian nodded, "as many of the students are uplifted animal and have had no formal lessons and training in ballet. In this, they're only just getting started. Thus they were kept in the minor roles where the steps they'd take and follow would be simple and easily rehearsed."
Vivian then turned her neck to look to some of the others who hadn't left the stage area. Some were human but others were Animalians. All went about shaking hands and talking to people in the audience. She then pointed to a few of them.
"But those in the more critical roles where their dancing would need to be perfect were former colleagues and friends," Vivian spoke, "Some even became Animalians to regain the strength and to join me as teachers. We hope that with a successful night... that eventually we can show true grace and poetry in motion."
"Were you a bit nervous on playing the role of Clara, as isn't she supposed to be a young girl... barely in her teens at the oldest?" the reporter asked.
"Not nervous," Vivian answered, "as the ballet is designed to portray Clara's innocence and her love for the nutcracker. That isn't always something that fades with age. And I've performed on bigger and grander stages than this... and hopefully my students grow as dances as well and one day... we can perform around the country. She the world that we Animalians are more than what we may be seen as in some circles... show them that we value culture and true beauty."
This reflected her own private thoughts on dance she'd performed with Zeus. She had no real concern or problem with some Animalians enjoying that sort of thing. In fact, in private with Zeus, she could be very frisky when she wanted to be. But she held firm on the point that there was more to life than sex and thus had her concerns with things that emphasized something that she felt should be private.
"Well, I'll say you did very well," the reporter gave a smile before he left.
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"You're still looking at that?" came a male voice from behind Vivian.
Vivian jumped a little in surprise and turned to find Zeus coming into the kitchen. He held two empty milk bottles and with that, Vivian could understand what he'd been up to.
"I'm just marveling at the review the paper gave for the Nutcracker performance this past Christmas," Vivian answered, "they were quite complementary."
"Of course they were," Zeus answered as he set the bottles down by the sink, "You were in it."
"I was... but my being there didn't make it a success," Vivian answered, "and hopefully by next Christmas, the students will have learned enough that they can take over the major roles and truly enjoy the pageantry of a fine art."
Zeus came up beside his mate and held her close to him, "You really do enjoy it... don't you?"
"I liked playing the role of Clara... I liked being able to be in a ballet again," Vivian answered, "but I think what I'd enjoy more... sharing that skill and ability. So many Animalians, particularly the birds are wonderfully graceful. I think got the most pleasure in seeing the students smile at being in their first real performance... and they were all beautiful."
"Not as beautiful as you," Zeus replied, "though our little ones are down for the night. I think we should get our own dinner ready... don't you think?"
Vivian slowly nodded, but a part of her couldn't wait to see her present students become everything they could be. To see them experience the same joys she'd had in her youth before becoming an Animalian.