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In November 2018, I read in the newspaper Jutarnji List about the demand for tickets for the opening ballet of the winter season, to be held at the wonderful Hrvatsko Narodno Kazalište (HNK) in Zagreb.
The performance was Tchaikovsky’s Orašar (The Nutcracker Suite). [From the name of which particular type of nut is the Croatian version of the title Orašar derived?] Well these photographs, taken from the Jutarnji List photo gallery say something about the level of sophistication or culture or refinement of the people of Zagreb.  My cultural level is such that when I saw the photos in the paper, I immediately presumed that there was a big football match coming up. A bit embarrassing! While these people were patiently waiting in a queue several hundred metres long, online sales were proceeding – until the pressure of demand brought about a system crash. When the “SOLD OUT” sign went up, there were many people still standing in the queue, so the organisers felt obliged to schedule another performance. [You can’t do that for a football match!] Apparently lots of people made friends with others near them in the queue, and exchanged phone numbers and social media contacts. How civilized! Aren’t we supposed to get angry, complain about everything and begin to argue and even fight in such circumstances? Svaka vam čast Zagrepčani!! Impressivno! I know at least one of us who should become aquainted with the Nutcracker Suite. Here are a couple of pics from a previous performance of Orešar at HNK, courtesy of HNK Photo Gallery:   What about a bit of action? In the absence of videos at HNK, I’ll settle for the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, courtesy of the Royal Ballet …. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV1qLYukTH8 Good heavens, I was viewer number 5 660 771! That is even more viewers than for this Aha! Learning Croatian website! But that is so gorgeous that I think perhaps another - this time a mob (I suspect that "mob" is not quite the correct term?). The Waltz of the Snowflakes. Not bad at all. Seven minutes ..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYaIQNjAX_8 Click here to go to Aha! Croatian: A ROAD MAP
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