The feel of Christmas is in the air. Christmas Eve will soon be upon us. On that magical night, children sleep in their beds with visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads as they anticipate what unique gifts were left by the jolly old man dressed in red. As their children slumber peacefully, moms and dads often work into the late hours of the night making sure that everything is perfectly in place to usher in the excitement of Christmas morning.
Christmas is full of wonder and amazement. It is a time when people seem to be a little nicer as they greet one another with warm smiles and wishes of “Happy Holidays” and “Merry Christmas.” Homes are brightly and beautifully decorated. Christmas music permeates the airwaves. Department storefronts have signs that welcome the season. As shoppers enter through the doors of the various shops and stores, it is as if they have just entered a quaint Christmas village. In this community, almost anything can happen. Carolers sing traditional Christmas carols, trains roar around tracks, toy soldiers come to life, shoppers admire Christmas trees filled with packages beneath as they shop for those unique gifts, children are amazed and amused by the large array of toys, and music box ballerinas perform the dance of the sugar plum fairy. If but for a moment, these are times when it appears that there is peace on earth and goodwill towards all humankind.
In a new music video called “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy,” Jennifer Thomas recreates the magic and wonder of Christmas as we go inside a toy theater located in what appears to be a quaint little village encased in a snow globe. Just before leaving the store, the toymaker winds up one of the toys. After he is gone the toy seated at the piano begins to play and the other toys, including a ballerina, come to life and render a beautiful performance of the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from Act 2 of the 1892 ballet The Nutcracker. Children are awestruck as they peer through the windows to watch the stunning show. When the toymaker returns, the performance has already ended.
Speaking about the making of the video, Jennifer commented, “When Glen Gabriel and I worked on the orchestration of this song a year ago, we joked about how it sounded like toys making mischief while the toymaker was away. I thought long and hard about this concept and formed a storyline in my head of how this could work. I wasn’t sure how to make the toys come to life, though – animation? Claymation? CGI? But in the end, I had the idea to use real life dancers to portray the characters.”
Jennifer put a lot of time and effort into creating this excellent video. She and her husband built the toy theater. She handpicked all the figurines used in the video. All the costumes, characters, props and locations were picked with care. And, as a special treat, her entire family appears in the video.
This video is one that should be shown on all the major networks throughout the holiday season and is bound to become a timeless classic masterpiece.
