Blue Snow

The snow scene has always been my favorite in "The Nutcracker." It has beautiful blue light and pretty ballerinas in white tutus twirling and spinning daintily though falling snow. This year's retooled show by Nevada Ballet Theatre is even more gorgeous than ever before. New costumes, brand new set decoration, and ample use of a smoke machine make the snow world seem even more ethereal.

Big, Bright and Loud

Last weekend was Mariachi Madness in Las Vegas. Here are some photos and a slightly cheesy paragraph that I wrote for the Mariachi photo page that ran in the Las Vegas Sun today:

 Mariachi is big, bright, loud, garish and unapologetic. The colors of the Ballet Folklorico dancer's dresses swirled as they swished and twirled to the music both on the stage and in the aisles of Reynolds Hall. About 3000 students from 16 middle schools and high schools in the Clark County School District's Mariachi and Ballet Folklorico programs performed with Mariachi Cobre, a renowned Mariachi group, during the Latin Chamber of Commerce Mariachi Festival at Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas Friday night. Photographing Mariachi does not do it justice, because without sound it's tough to capture the exuberance. I tried my best to show in photographs the color and emotion, but Mariachi truly lives in all five senses.

See more photos and read the article about Mariachi in Southern Nevada.