Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

As today is my granddaughter's birthday, I thought I would feature her favourite Christmas ballet The Nutcracker . Before anyone protests, I am not saying that this was the FIRST ballet with a Christmas theme ever written or performed, but I can verify that  The Nutcracker   was first performed in St Petersburg, Russia in 1892. While there is no definitive claim that The Nutcracker was the first, its beginnings suggest that it would be difficult to find an earlier Christmas ballet. Hoffmann’s 1816 tale The Nutcracker and the Mouse King had been adapted by Alexandre Dumas (of Three Musketeers fame) in 1844, and it was a ballet based on this version that was commissioned by the director of the Russian Imperial Theatre in 1892, following the huge success of Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty two years previously. from "The Nutcracker" 1892  ( mentalfloss.com)  The premiere performance of The Nutcracker was  not well received and that is probably being k...

It was a wintry week and perfect for working with wool. Amazingly, I finished a little jumper for my granddaughter before Winter is over. Robyn Alexander from Colour Streams has a beautiful series of needle felted handbags "Printemps" and while their name may suggest Spring, I have really enjoyed working on   "Ebony Rose " from this collection this week I keep checking the calendar and yes it is July already - EOFYS celebrations (End of Financial year parties), Rotary clubs' changeovers, end of school term, school reports, and  grandchildren's dance concerts! Everyone seems happy this week for one reason or another. It was a busy week for me, but we fitted in an offbeat  movie about Empress Wu's court. The movie was "Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame". I am not sure if there is a name for a genre which is a mixture of Hecule Poirot and Kung Fu films, but it gets a good review . Quite a week of Chinese history - we als...