I had every intention of taking her to see The Nutcracker local ballet production (ok, well an hour away, but that's local for us!) this year as I thought she would really like it. Unfortunately they went to one weekend only this year, and naturally I could not get any of those days off work!
So when the chance came to review the Prima Princessa Nutcracker video, I was thrilled! The Nutcracker is a Christmas tradition with our family, so I was really interested to see what kiddo thought of it!
The Prima Princessa ballet series is a DVD collection of ballet stories just for kids, aimed primarily at ages 3-6 .It was inspired by 2 blogging mom-entrepreneurs from NJ, that have daughter who love dance. The video have done so well, they are available through Amazon and at your local Target!
Synopsis: The cartoon fairy ballerina Prima Princessa takes a group of pre-school children on a magical Christmas journey to see a live performance of "The Nutcracker" performed by England’s world famous Birmingham Royal Ballet in this Parents Choice Award-winning program. Prima Princessa delightfully narrates the story so children can understand the plot. Between acts the kids get up and dance, learning simple ballet steps from students at SAB, official academy of the New York City Ballet. Additional fun including a Holiday party with cookie and gingerbread house decorating, Christmas crafting, and Holiday Freeze Dancing!
Review: Kiddo was GLUED to the tv from the moment the video started! In fact she made me freeze it so she could put on her tutu, so she could dance along! She was equally enamormed of the story line and was able to keep up very easily and understand what was going on. The video really edits it down to the core where younger children can comprehend the story better! Kiddo really loved the pauses between acts for dancing! I was very surprised to see how quickly she picked up Glissade and was able to do it accurately!
It was also adorable when she asked for my help to stand en point like the ballerina in the movie (who was spinning). Kiddo is definitely ready for ballet class! She wanted to watch the dvd twice and enjoyed dancing along even more the second time!
We already had worked on gingerbread houses, but the additional craft segments gave us some excellent ideas for this week's down time!
If you are looking for a last minute gift for a little girl you know, I'm sure she will find this dvd exciting and fun. And if she really likes ballet, it will be a bonus in helping her with her positions!
Prima Princessa also has coloring pages and games online to go along with their videos! Their site also has excellent links for ballet gear, tutus, ballet classes and schools and other girl related link!
Check it out today, I think you'll find the video as enchanting as we did!