It's always a good thing when families can enjoy outings together. Attending Christmas plays, performances, and concerts offers wonderful holiday entertainment for all members of the family and provides another way to enjoy the festivities of the Christmas season.
Families usually don't have to venture too far from their home to enjoy a Christmas play or concert. Amateur actors, singers, and budding musicians in their neighborhood will usually take part in several Christmas performances for local residents. These amateur, but entertaining, events can be found at local schools, churches, or at a community theater or performance center.
It's very popular for those groups to stage performances of the Nativity story, or other Christmas related works such as “A Christmas Carol.” Churches and school groups may even have a complete concert series that includes a full-length production of a play along with choirs, soloists, and the band singing Christmas carols and other Christmas songs.
What makes local Christmas performances special is that members of the community, and maybe even of your own household, may be among the entertainers. It is special to see familiar faces doing something interesting and different. For those who are budget-conscious, the performances are usually priced to be very affordable, offering an economic incentive to go out and have an enjoyable afternoon or evening.
Those people who are lovers of the arts, and who are more interested in seeing a professional performance, will likely also have a professional theatrical company within reasonable proximity of their residence. Professional groups may also perform Christmas classics such as “A Christmas Carol,” or they may do another dramatic production from the works of other playwrights.
Music lovers also have a variety of performances to enjoy at Christmas time. While one can often catch various groups singing carols in downtown areas or at malls, there are other places to hear rich, melodious performances of Christmas music. These include concerts by acclaimed or recognized conservatories, orchestras, symphonies, and renowned choir groups. The beauty of hearing Christmas music by these groups is in the accompaniment of instruments and the harmonious blending of voices, which all happens in a venue that has acoustic features to optimize the auditory pleasure of the performances. The different components that make the whole performance offer a richer quality to Christmas songs and carols that may be described as “sounding heavenly.”
Another popular artistic performance that is popular during the Christmas season is classical dance in the form of ballet, and particularly the performance of the “Nutcracker” ballet. With music written by Tchaikovsky, the story is about a young girl who has a dream on Christmas Eve of a Nutcracker Prince and a fierce battle with a Mouse King that has seven heads. After a battle between the Nutcracker, who leads an army of toy soldiers, and the Mouse King, who leads an army of mice, the Nutcracker is captured; but the little girl throws her slipper at the Mouse King, hits him in the head, and kills him. In the end, the Nutcracker turns into a Prince and takes the little girl to the magical and enchanting Land of Snow with dancing snowflakes and the Land of Sweets with the Sugar Plum Fairy.
Attending Christmas plays, concerts or musical performances serves the basic purpose of providing enjoyment, but it can also help young people, and even adults, to develop an appreciation for the arts. Seeing different variations, and the creativity in performances of Christmas plays, as well as hearing different renditions of Christmas songs, can be the first exposure that leads to a lifelong love of the arts and, possibly, a dream to pursue a career in the arts.
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Christmas Festivities
Christmas is described as a festive season, therefore, we should all engage in activities during the season that provide entertainment and merriment, and those that give pleasure. Because Christmas is about celebration, many types of festivities can be found to suit all preferences for making the season a joyful one.
A readily available option is watching Christmas movies. This can be done from the comfort of home or by spending a few hours out at the theater. A wonderful option now available for movies is renting them via the Internet. It allows you to get any movie you want to see - whether traditional, popular, or a remake of an original title. There is fairly easy access to obscure movie titles, as well as movies with holiday or Christmas themes.
Although Christmas movies embody the spirit of the season, you can also take time out during Christmas to enjoy new releases that may, or may not, have a holiday theme. Christmas is a good time to catch notable new releases because they are timed to be shown in theaters before the end of the year to be considered for Oscar nominations.
Performances of Christmas plays that depict the Nativity scene are another popular entertainment during Christmas. Although these performances are done year after year, they never grow old because of creative differences in interpreting the story and in how each role is performed by different actors every year.
The dramatization of the Nativity demonstrates the meaning of Christmas and can also simplify the meaning of Christmas for children. Participation in the Nativity is also an important activity for children in drama groups at schools and churches.
Along with depicting the meaning of Christmas, the Nativity play also portrays moral lessons that can serve as an inspiration for becoming a more spiritual person and living a better life. Watching or taking part in the Nativity play at Christmas can affect your attitude and your outlook on life.
Musical entertainment at Christmas can come from pausing during shopping to listen to a choral group at the mall or downtown. It can also be entertaining to simply hum along to a Christmas carol or a song being played on the radio. Carols, as a tradition at Christmas, are said to originate in England and France in the Middle Ages. At the time, carols were dances accompanied by singing. The tradition that Anglo-Saxons preferred was to have small choirs gather on the village green and sing carols and Christmas songs to passersby. Over time, the meaning of the word changed to refer to only certain types of songs.
The tradition of carols is also believed to have evolved from the angels, shepherds, and Wise Men who bowed down to sing praises and to worship Baby Jesus. For those who are really lovers of the arts, professional groups like orchestras, symphonies, conservatories, and choirs offer splendid concerts during Christmas. They will also sing Christmas carols and songs; but the harmony of their voices, accompanied by a full complement of instruments, provides a richer and more melodious rendition of the carols that is unlikely to be heard anywhere else.
Probably the most popular festivities at Christmas are parties, which seem to happen everywhere, and at all times, during the Christmas season. There are parties at work, home, with friends, and class parties at school. Even social hubs, such as bars, may have special nights with different foods and lower-priced drinks during Christmas.
It seems there is no end to the festivities during Christmas. It's important to have a good time but also to remember the unfortunate and to reach out to them, and to have fun but in a responsible manner.
A readily available option is watching Christmas movies. This can be done from the comfort of home or by spending a few hours out at the theater. A wonderful option now available for movies is renting them via the Internet. It allows you to get any movie you want to see - whether traditional, popular, or a remake of an original title. There is fairly easy access to obscure movie titles, as well as movies with holiday or Christmas themes.
Although Christmas movies embody the spirit of the season, you can also take time out during Christmas to enjoy new releases that may, or may not, have a holiday theme. Christmas is a good time to catch notable new releases because they are timed to be shown in theaters before the end of the year to be considered for Oscar nominations.
Performances of Christmas plays that depict the Nativity scene are another popular entertainment during Christmas. Although these performances are done year after year, they never grow old because of creative differences in interpreting the story and in how each role is performed by different actors every year.
The dramatization of the Nativity demonstrates the meaning of Christmas and can also simplify the meaning of Christmas for children. Participation in the Nativity is also an important activity for children in drama groups at schools and churches.
Along with depicting the meaning of Christmas, the Nativity play also portrays moral lessons that can serve as an inspiration for becoming a more spiritual person and living a better life. Watching or taking part in the Nativity play at Christmas can affect your attitude and your outlook on life.
Musical entertainment at Christmas can come from pausing during shopping to listen to a choral group at the mall or downtown. It can also be entertaining to simply hum along to a Christmas carol or a song being played on the radio. Carols, as a tradition at Christmas, are said to originate in England and France in the Middle Ages. At the time, carols were dances accompanied by singing. The tradition that Anglo-Saxons preferred was to have small choirs gather on the village green and sing carols and Christmas songs to passersby. Over time, the meaning of the word changed to refer to only certain types of songs.
The tradition of carols is also believed to have evolved from the angels, shepherds, and Wise Men who bowed down to sing praises and to worship Baby Jesus. For those who are really lovers of the arts, professional groups like orchestras, symphonies, conservatories, and choirs offer splendid concerts during Christmas. They will also sing Christmas carols and songs; but the harmony of their voices, accompanied by a full complement of instruments, provides a richer and more melodious rendition of the carols that is unlikely to be heard anywhere else.
Probably the most popular festivities at Christmas are parties, which seem to happen everywhere, and at all times, during the Christmas season. There are parties at work, home, with friends, and class parties at school. Even social hubs, such as bars, may have special nights with different foods and lower-priced drinks during Christmas.
It seems there is no end to the festivities during Christmas. It's important to have a good time but also to remember the unfortunate and to reach out to them, and to have fun but in a responsible manner.
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