Syracuse City Ballet

This performance was amazing!!! The aerial artists really brought something special to the show. All of the dancers did a beautiful job. My daughter and I very much enjoyed this performance.

Amazing!! Up to NYC standards!! Incredibly talented individuals!

It was a wonderful production. The set design was beautiful, and the dancing was excellent. I would highly recommend the Syracuse Ballet. I am going to get tickets to their production of Aladdin in March!

I took my daughter to this event and she loved it! We both enjoyed the talent of the dancers. The overall experience was wonderful!

This was an excellent show. We brought our granddaughter to the show. There was beautiful music, dancing, and some comedy. She loved it. My husband and I enjoyed it immensely.

I took my daughter and her friend and they both thought it was just a wonderful performance!! The especially loved the special affects and the choreography!! What an amazing job you all did, it was the best we have seen!!

While I have seen many of the performances put on by Syracuse City Ballet, and have the utmost respect for Ms. Rathbun and her students, I do have to say I was mildly disappointed with this particular event. The staging was good, but it is hard to see the Nutcracker without a live orchestra. From a dance perspective there were more negatives than positives. Cleverly training a live dog to be onstage, and using great imagery, can only partly cover poor dancing. The male leads were forgettable at best. The Dew Drop Fairy/Snow Queen was very engaging, nice technique, and beautiful stage presence. The Sugar Plum Fairy was a strong female as well, but I definitely feel like there was something lacking in her performance this particular evening. The missed lifts and poorly executed turns did not help. On a bright note, Claire Rathbun who danced the Marzipan Fairy is absolutely a talent. She is engaging, strong, and I probably enjoyed watching her dance as much as the "pros", definitely more so than watching the men. Overall I think the students of Upstate Ballet should be proud of their work, and I do think it was a nice performance. However, if I am going to spend over $100 for two tickets, I do demand better dancers than what I was given, especially in the professional roles.

Well done performance!!! My entire family loved the show!! I highly recommend this Nutcracker Performance be seen by all ages.

From the little children to the professional dancers, everyone performed remarkably well and brought their own contribution to the show. I enjoyed the beginning scene with the ouverture, the setting as simple but charming and the dancing was beautiful.

My daughter (age 5) and I had a magical time at the show!! I loved watching her eyes light up watching the ballarinas!

My six years old daughter enjoyed the play a lot..

This is my family's second visit to the Children's Nutcracker and I must say that it never ceases to tantalize visually and audibly .

Good show for the season. My 2 Children 5 and 3 loved it! The only negative point: no live music.

I brought my 15 year old daughter We just sat there in amazement. But not surprised by Mrs. Rathbun, she always puts on a great show!!!! My daughter took ballet from Mrs. Rathbun for 9 years. We were so proud of everyone who participated in the show.BRAVO!!!!!

This is the 2nd time I've taken my daughter and grandaughter to see this production. My grandaughter is physically challenged; in her 2nd year of dance. Neither one could take their eyes off the stage. It was, as usual, awesome

This Children's Nutcracker can be enjoyed by young and mature audiences. My four year old commented during the show, "this show is excellent!" It also motivates young ballerines to dream big!

Awsome family event. Can't wait for next year. Great time spent with my children.

Very professionally done. Children dancers were very well trained. Older dancers were superb. Length of performance is perfect for the little kids in the audience and the narrative helped them understand the story. Costumes and sets very professional. Only thing that would have made it better would have been a live orchestra. I especially like the pricing structure with smaller prices for children. All children's events should do this -- often the $50 to $100 a ticket events would be nice for kids but not affordable for a family or for anyone on a fixed income. Thanks so much to this delightful group for doing this again. I look forward to attending for years to come.

Wonderful performance by local and international dancers! Beautiful costumes. I've gone to the Nutcracker every season for the past 30 years, and this productions Waltz of the Flowers dance was the best choreography I've seen yet. Snow was also very impressive. When the SSO stopped performing, we traveled to Rochester to see the Nutcracker instead, but the Syracuse Ballet does an amazing job. No more traveling to Rochester! I do wish the music was live, but the beautiful dancing makes me forget about the music being a recording. I also like the larger role that Fritz has in this production as well.

The music messed up, parts of people costumes fell off, and the choreography didn't match the music... I was very disappointed but to give them the benefit of the doubt it was okay for a local theater.

I wanted my children to experience what it was like to see the Nutcracker live. I like to expose them to other forms of entertainment rather than simply going to the movies etc. They both liked it.

I took my 7 year old grandson to see the Nutcracker done by the Syracuse City Ballet. He has been fascinated by the Nutcracker story and music since he was a toddler. We thoroughly enjoyed the ballet. An additional perk was that I had purchased 2 tickets in Box 6; the other 4 people did not attend so we had the box to ourselves! Therefore, we had an unobstructed view of the well-done ballet.

I have gone to other shows that Kathleen has done and each time I just sit in amazement and wonder how she puts it all together. This version of the Nutcracker was beautiful. I recommend everyone go and see a show done by the Syracuse City Ballet, these kids from the youngest to the oldest are incredible and talented. Kathleen Rathbun brings out the performer in all of the students and they put on such a wonderful show that you tend to forget how young some of these performers are. I have to say it again...AMAZING. Thank you Kathleen and all who were a part of the making of and the final performance. You are all professionals as far as I am concerned. Thank you, Thank you Thank you! You made our night out as a family a perfect night.

We took 4 children ages 5-10 and they enjoyed it immensely. Even the 5 year old managed to stay with the program for most of the performance. The narration really helped them understand the story as not everyone is familiar with the Nutcracker.

Great job by cast and crew. Very impressive and a great evening.

The performance of all just beautiful. The production, the cast, amazing. Welcome Back!

It was amazing!!! So great!! Blew me and my family away!

Overall Production was lovely and the talented, young ballerinas danced beautifully. It was an ideal first introduction to ballet, My 4 year old dressed in costume and could not wait to see the dance of the sugar plum fairy. Although I would have preferred a live orchestra, I understand the production was working on a shoe string budget after the troupe lost costumes and props due to a fire earlier this year. I was not expecting the narration. It was a little odd but it helped my daughter follow the story and remain engaged.

The costumes and sets were so beautiful. My granddaughter is 6 and she was totally engrossed. Very impressive production with dancers of all ages.

What a wonderful performance! So beautiful! Truly an amazing job!

A wonderful performance in a beautiful, well managed and modern theater! Perfect for taking kids (narration, no orchestra and little noise).

Over all a job well done. They had a little different spin on the traditional story (Fritz also received a nutcracker and he was part of Clara's dream), so some who prefer to see the traditional show may not care for it as well. I also thought there was going to be an orchestra at this performance and there was not, so I was a little disappointed to hear taped music, but it did not detract from the performance. I thought the back drops were well done. The sparkly lights on the tree made it look 3 dimensional and the starry sky on the trip to the land of sweets made you feel like they were really flying through the air. The dances of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the prince felt a little long, but they did a nice job. The movement on and off the stage of the different members of the Land of Sweets and transition back to the house when Clara awoke was enchanting. Definitely a show to be enjoyed by the family,

I have seen The Nutcracker twice before, and I was not a fan. I took my mom for her birthday because and loves it. This time I was not let down. The costumes were beautiful, we had perfect seats. The dancing was perfect. The whole show was just fantastic. I would definitely recommend this show.

I took my 2 granddaughters, ages 10 and 13, and their other Grandmother on Friday, Dec.6, 2013. None of them had ever seen The Nutcracker before and they loved it. While reading the program, each of the girls found that they both went to school with someone from the cast of very talented dancers. The 10 year-old went to school with "Clara"! What a thrill that was for them. The show was awesome and such wonderful talent. We are blessed in Syracuse, and especially for Kathleen Rathburn.

beautifully put together, amazing choreography and amazing talent! all in all spectacular show! i would definitely attend this ballet again. :)

As usual, this show was excellent. I highly recommend for the whole family!

The pit orchestra (CNY musical associates) made all the difference. Any decent production of the Nutcracker needs live music!

I'd never seen a Nutcracker performance before and I was thoroughly entertained!

Professionals were as expected. Local "talent" left much to be desired. Take a train to NYC and see a real show instead. Only one local dancer should have been on stage for the price of the ticket.

This was definitely a good choice as part of my 3 sons Christmas present. They are over 11 yrs old and enjoyed the Theatre very much, enjoyed The Nutcracker very much as well. I was very happy with the performance: witty, theatrical, pretty etc..had a wide variety of drama to it.

Seats were good except for the ushers...being in the back row near the door, they were constantly up & down, and since they chose to sit in front of us it became annoying at times. View was fairly decent considering we had chosen seats for a somewhat reasonable price. I would not recommend bringing very small children (under 4-5), as that can also be a distraction. However, children over 5 will enjoy...especially enchanting to a young girl who dreams of being a ballerina. The performance was beautiful.

Fabulous Nutcracker!!! One if the best productions I've been to. Great dancing and terrific orchestra! Two thumbs up'!!!

Went with my 16 year old daughter. We usually see The Nutcracker performed by the North Carolina Ballet or the Moscow Ballet. Thought we'd give Syracuse City Ballet a try. Didn't realize that the majority of the cast would be students. It also seemed the majority of the audience was family members of the cast. It was a nice performance but definitely not worth the $60 a seat that I paid for it. We were very excited to have such good seats, but disappointed that it was more like a school performance, for the most part, than a professional company.

This is our third year coming to see this. We were surprisingly dissapointed as it wasnt as good as in the past. The production wasnt nearly as grand. The Syracuse Symphony Orchestra was sorely missed as watching this without live music just isnt the same. Narrator wasnt very dynamic. This production appeared to be geared more towards younger children. We have always enjoyed this show but we have decided not to come next year unless the quality of the production significantly improves and there is a live symphony.

I went with my mom to see the Nutcracker and it was all that I hoped it would be. Ive been in the Nutcracker before but I finally got to see it.

My 5 year old granddaughter and I relished every minute of this family friendly performance. The dancing, sets, and special effects -- not to mention the "real" dog that joined the show -- made it very memorable. We plan to see it next year!

The dancers were fantastic ! I haven't been to this show in 27 years, I loved it.

The dancers were cute, the older girls were skilled. Where it fell apart is the directing. Who in their right mind would put a rat trap in the ballet and take out a epic sword fight of the rat king and the nutcracker. The original story is timeless for a reason and should not have been changed! I felt bad for the dancers who worked so hard; the story should have been kept to it's original glory!

The general admission was great , I wish they had also had the mezzanine available .

What a wonderful show. All the performances were super. The Syracuse Ballet used a ton of kids in the kid roles which was special. I really enjoyed it

We had seats in row f, middle of the row which were great. My daughter is 11 and had a little trouble seeing over a large adult head but overall, it was a great show. It didnt start on time (10 min late) and the "15 min. intermission" was actually 25 min. Overall, great dancing, props. etc!

It's wonderful to see a local company grow and develop to the point of putting together a premier event. The show gets better every year.

Great show! My Granddaughter loved it! Showmanship was great! Held her attention the entire time.

Amazing show! I was mesmerized from beginning to end!

Ballet was wonderful! All the dancers were so talented!

Didn't know what to expect as this was my first Syracuse City Ballet experience, but it was an excellent production with tip-top sets, dancing, and costuming. Choreography and music were perfectly suited to both dancers and audience, and the production was paced to hold the attention of even the youngest members of the audience. Syracuse is fortunate to have such a wonderful dance resource as the Syracuse City Ballet in its midst -- a great opportunity for students as well as the community. Well done!

We absolutely loved the Ballet. What an extremely extraordinary performance.. I would recommend you see this wonderful Ballet..

I paid almost 40 dollars a ticket to see what I thought would be a professional ballet. While the adults did a fairly good job, there were too many kids, it started to feel like a child's dance recital. Which would've been fine if I hadn't had different expectations and paid 80 dollars for my husband and I to see it. We left at intermission with several other disappointed customers.

Beautiful!! We are so lucky to have the opportunity to experience this level of ballet in Syracuse.

My daughter and I enjoyed the Syracuse City Ballet interpretation of the Nutcracker. We had not been since she was a child. Very reasonable price and yes even the high balcony had a full view.

The dancers were on point in their routine. The seats were fantastic for seeing expressions and details (Orchestra, C29 & 30). What was unexpected were the artistic liberties and juvenile jokes. The cousin, not the brother, broke the Nutcracker, so the brother Hans traveled with his sister Clara through the magic land. A puppy was the featured point for the beginning scenes. Both Hans and Clara received Nutcrackers, and it was Hans' soldier nutcracker that was broken. The Russian nesting doll was played by a guy who played with the large fake boobs, smelled his armpits and then applied deodorant. It was definitely geared toward kids. I have no kids so I plan on seeing the Russian corp's Nutcracker next year.

At the outset the main reason for my 2-star review is the price tag for this show. I paid a little over $40 per ticket. Due to the following, I would suggest the value of these tickets to be around $20. 1. A large part of the show involves local children-teens dancing which is fine. However, they were clearly not professionals. There were some clear errors and less than outstanding performances. All of which is fine and forgivable given age and experience. However, I did not pay $40 x2 for a children's dance recital. 2. The 5 professional dancers were good, but not amazing. In fact, even they made a few errors, failing to land their echappe saute and jetes in noticeable fashion. Again, this is a forgivable offense, but given the talent of the other performers THESE dancers should have made up the value of $40. They failed to do so. 3. This one is hard to blame the show for, so it wasn't a consideration in the 2-star review, but it really bothered me that the audience clapped mid-dance, sometimes several times per dance. Wait until the dance is over and then applaud. I wish the producers would mention that before the show.

The nutcracker was amazing will be attending more events

Everything was fantastic! My girls, ages 7 & 5 were captivated the entire time, looking forward to next year!

great performance! children were exceptional. really liked the christmas tree that grew!

My 8 year old niece and I went and she was doing standing ovations! It was a very enjoyable show that was professionally and tastefully done. Bravisimo!!!

Beautiful. Professionally done with precision and attention to details. Absolutely charming.

Awesome performance! Audience was very enthusiastic and appreciative of all the dancers.

the ballet was awesome, the set atmosphere and the dancers were so entertaining it was enjoyable from the beginning to the end

My daughter and I loved the performance. The dancers did a wonderful job. Very elegant. We will be coming back each year.

This was our first time seeing the show and the entire family loved the program. It was captivating, funny, and magical.

Very nicely done. Having watched the Syracuse City Ballet for years (Snow White for Girl Scouts in the basement of Holy Rosary Church days), it is nice to see how they have grown from a "nice" ballet school to one of professional quality. The caliber of dancers at all levels has increased so that the professionals and students blend together well, without the segregation that existed even just five years ago. A job well done and my compliments to the school for reaching their "dream" of bringing a local Nutcracker to Syracuse. It just shows what local grown talent can do.

We just attended the production today that was a sold out. We were truly impressed by the skill level of guest and principal dancers, beautiful decorations and costumes. Great local company and a wonderful holiday tradition. Highly recommend this show.

The dancers were wonderful. I was very impressed with the littlest dancers. They seemed to really enjoy themselves. The Pointe dancers were inspirational.

For a local "troupe", the performance was quite impressive!

Loved it. My granddaughter already wants to see Swan Lake.

Fully professional, beautifully danced production with very talented local young dancers. Definitely a winner! Only issue is that soundtrack is TOO LOUD. Hope this becomes an annual tradition and moneymaker for a great local arts organization. Congratulations to Syracuse Ballet for a delightful program.

I took my 6 year old daughter to this, it was her first ballet. We had front row ticket, and we loved it. My daughter was just in awe over the whole production. We drove 4 hours to attend the performance, and it was worth it. The dancers and staff were great, and my daughter has talked about the performance now for days.