TutuZone

Cinnamon Hollow

Cinnamon Hollow exclaims, "Stephanie Troeller and Mary Kate Mellow have done it again!"

We are thrilled to hear your daughter love to get up and dance along to the show!

Prima Princessa - ballet is for everyone

Here is the review from November 3, 2009:

Stephanie Troeller and Mary Kate Mellow have done it again! The creators of Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake, have announced a spectacular new Holiday edition to their Prima Princessa DVD series. I was given an exclusive chance to review Prima Princessa Presents The Nutcracker.

It is a WONDERFUL DVD! Once again, Stephanie and Mary Kate, two stay-at-home-moms, have created a DVD based on ballet to capture the hearts and attention of little girls. Featuring ‘The Nutcracker’ performed by the amazing San Francisco Ballet, Prima Princessa took my girls on a Christmas adventure complete with toy soldiers, Christmas trees and our favorite magical uncle.

Like Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake, the Holiday DVD has brief intermissions between each act that features ballet steps performed by the School of American Ballet students. My daughters LOVED this! They would jump up and immediately begin dancing and copying the steps. These DVD’s are so great!!! They get our children up off the couch and onto their feet, dancing and laughing and enjoying every minute of something fun and educational.

Thank you so much ladies for my advanced copy

Folks, these will make AWESOME gifts for the upcoming Holidays!!!!

http://www.reviews.thecinnamonhollow.biz/2009/11/03/prima-princessa-presents-the-nutcracker/

Cool Baby Kid

Cool Baby Kid calls"Prima Princessa Presents the Nutcracker" "beautiful" and "entertaining"!

Thanks for the review. We think it is cool to have our new show featured on Cool Baby Kid!

Prima Princessa

Here is the review:

Prima Princessa's Nutcracker is beautiful, entertaining video that your little princess is sure to cherish for many years. Mary Kate Mellow and Stephanie Troeller capture this amazing story and present it in an amazing way. My little princess stayed focused for the entire 40 minute video. It provides easy to learn dance moves such as the pirouettes and jetes. The steps are explained in a clear, easy to understand fashion. Children ages 2-8 would be thrilled with this video. The video presents excerpts from the San Francisco Ballet as well as the School of American Ballet. The magical dances, breathtaking scenery, and classical musical make the video both educational and entertaining. This video would make an excellent stocking stuffer for the upcoming holiday season. Review copy provided; read the full disclosure policy here.

Written by Alicia, Cool Baby Kid Contributor

http://www.coolbabykid.com/2009/11/prima-princessa-nutcracker-dvd-at-home.html (11-2-09)

Redbook Magazine

Redbook Magazine loves "Prima Princessa Presents The Nutcracker"!!! We are thrilled to be reviewed by such an incredible women's magazine and are honored that our DVD is featured in Redbook's "The Kids Gift Glossary".

From Redbook:

"Whether she dreams of being ballerina, or simply loves fairy tales, the Prima Princessa Nutcracker DVD will surely be a favorite. Featuring the famous San Francisco Ballet and narrated by a cartoon fairy ballerina this DVD will charm princesses of all ages."

Prima Princessa

http://www.redbookmag.com/kids-family/kids-gifts/the-dancer-nutcracker-dvd-gift?click=main_sr

Lisa's Reviews

 
We really appreciate your super review and are honored to be featured in your Holiday Gift Guide. We agree that our DVD makes for both a fun and affordable gift for the season!

Prima Princessa - ballet gifts for children

Check out Lisa's review and her gift guide:

Prima Princessa Presents The Nutcracker

If you are looking for a great video for this holiday season for the princess in your house, Prima Princessa Presents The Nutcrackeris the video you need.  This DVD is an adventure filled with snow fairies, toy soldiers, sugarplums, and sweets.  It definitely puts you in the mood for holiday cheer!  As a mom, you’ll recognize the scenes from the “Nutcracker”.  What Madison loved the most from this video is that they show you real dance steps.  Madison loves pretending, and this shows her the correct ballerina steps.  She even tells the girls at school about it!

The DVD is only 40 minutes which is great for ages 3-6 and their attention spans.  The DVD also costs only $12.99, so it’s very affordable.  Most of all, your little princess will definitely feel part of the story and truly opens their imaginations up.

 

http://lisareviews.com/2009/10/09/prima-princess-presents-nutcracker/

http://giftguide2009.lisareviews.com/under-25/prima-princessa-presents-the-nutcracker/

Magpie Musing

 
Magpie writes, "I'm happy to report that their Nutcracker is equally as charming as their Swan Lake."  We are thrilled to hear yourself and your daughter enjoyed the show. Thanks Magpie for your thoughtful review!

-Prima Princessa

Here is the review:

01 November 2009

Let's Review: The Prima Princessa Nutcracker

A big part of my childhood was seeing the New York City Ballet Nutcracker every couple of years. For me, it's the ur Nutcracker: the sets, the costumes, the choreography, the specifics of the plot. I love the movie of it that was made in 1997, even though Macaulay Caulkin should have been left on the cutting room floor - all he does is mug for the camera - but I guess they felt that they needed a "name" "star" for a theatrical release. I digress.

The child has been captivated by the Prima Princessa Swan Lake that I brought home from BlogHer, so I was happy when they offered to send me their new release: Prima Princessa Presents The Nutcracker. I'm happy to report that their Nutcracker is equally as charming as their Swan Lake.

Again, there's the animated fairy as narrator - intercut with pre-schoolers dancing around on the lawn and in the snow, serious young ballet students from the School of American Ballet demonstrating steps like passé, glissade and sauté, and clips from the San Francisco Ballet's Nutcracker.

You get the flavor of the ballet's story, in a kind of Cliff Notes way. I was interested in seeing the bits of the SF Nutcracker - the differences between it and NYCB were fascinating to me (the mouse king gets done in by a mousetrap, Mother Ginger has a pet bear). There's a little education going on - you see ballet steps as demonstrated in a classroom, as attempted by the little ones, and in the choreography. And while the DVD is likely to appeal to little girls, the producers were careful to include male dancers: there are little boys cavorting around, and boys demonstrating steps in ballet class, and plenty of men in the stage production.

I was disappointed that the credits didn't identify any of the dancers (or if they do, I completely missed it) and I couldn't find that information on the Prima Princessa website. But I'm the kind of geek that wants to know who's who - most people probably don't care. (I'm guessing that all of the SF Ballet footage was from their fairly recent DVD of The Nutcracker.)

The verdict from the five year old? "I love that movie."

(http://www.magpiemusing.com/2009/11/lets-review-prima-princessa-nutcracker.html

Grasping for Objectivity

I can't say for sure if Clara gets her eyebrows done or if they are naturally like that, but I am happy to hear the show was a hit in your house on a variety of levels!  I am overdue for a shopping trip to Sephora.

Thanks for the review!
Prima Princessa - Christmas Gifts for Girls!

Here is the review:

My Prima Princessa…and a Giveaway!

We are enjoying ourselves on an annual camping trip with some hopefully-miraculously-better-than-forecasted weather this weekend (keep your fingers crossed for us), so I decided to leave you with a giveaway post while I'm gone!

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Ali is becoming more of a prima donna every day.

Maybe it has to do with getting closer and closer to the age of three, which is basically a tween these days.

She’s starting to think less of her old best friend, Thomas the Tank Engine, and dream more about princesses and fairies…her world of playing with trains and cars is quickly revolutionizing into playing with makeup and dress-up clothes.

In fact, just the other night before bedtime, she looked at me with an intrigued look, started rubbing my eyebrows, and said, “Who does your eyebrows?”

Shocked, I said, “What??”

“WHO does your EYEBROWS?”

“Umm, I do?”

“Oh. Where do you get your makeup for your eyebrows?”

I don’t put any makeup on my eyebrows, but I saw this was not going to end without an explanation, so I said “From MAC and Sephora.”

“Yes, Sephora. They’re pretty, Mommy!”

Wow. And my Mom thought I was growing up too fast when I argued with her for weeks that I was old enough to wear pantyhose…at the age of 6.

Anyway, I received another movie from Prima Princessa that I knew she’d love due to this new phase of hers, and I was right. 

Prima Princessa makes awesome ballet movies for little girls, combining video of real ballet performances, lessons on ballet moves, and videos of little girls dancing.

This one is on The Nutcracker, which I saw live several times as a child and LOVED it, even though I didn’t understand at all what was going on (WHY can’t they have WORDS in ballets?!?)

Anyway, what is so great about this DVD is that there is a narrator, explaining what is going on with Clara, the nut cracking men and the life-sized mice. It makes it MUCH easier to follow.

Ali absolutely loved it, and has been going around all week saying that her NEW favorite movie is The Nutcracker, and can we PLEASE watch it again?!?

(Maybe Clara gets her eyebrows done in the play and I just never picked up on it since I didn’t have a narrator. That would explain where THAT came from.)

Anyway, they sent me an extra copy to give away to one of you! To enter, simply comment on the post.

You can earn up to three extra entries if you:

• Subscribe to OR Follow my blog
• Follow me on Twitter OR Facebook
• Tweet, blog, OR Facebook about the giveaway

This giveaway will be open until Monday, November 9th. The winner will be randomly selected and announced on Tuesday, November 10th.

Good luck!!

http://www.graspingforobjectivity.com/ 10-31-09

Piece of Me - Making My American Dream

Thanks for the fabulous review! We really enjoy your blog. And by the way your gift guide button is gorgeous.

-Prima Princessa- great Christmas gifts for ballet loving little girls

Here is the review:

From the same creative minds that brought you Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake comes a Christmas spectacular sure to delight your littlest ballerina, Prima Princessa Presents The Nutcracker. Take a magical journey with Prima Princessa to the land of the Sugar Plum Fairy. On your journey you will see beautiful snow fairies, captivating ballerinas, and a handsome prince or two. Along with excerpts from "Nutcracker"performed by the world famous San Francisco Ballet, you will see real ballet steps demonstrated by students from the School of American Ballet and young tutu-clad ballerinas intimating the same steps.

We reviewed a copy of Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake a few months back and I really enjoyed it. Princess P was just finding out what television and movies were at the time so she was kind of in and out watching it. But this time when we were asked to review Prima Princessa Presents The Nutcracker I hoped P would be a little more interested.


As soon as the movie was turned on it grabbed Princess P's attention with the holiday music. During the course of the movie she would watch Prima Princessa intensely as she flew across the screen and she would twirl with the little girls as they danced around the floor. She giggled as the ballerinas danced in the snow and tried to grab the TV screen when the large lollipops went by. While she did not sit through the entire movie (she is only 16 months old!) certain things drew her back in. As for me, I enjoyed watching the San Francisco ballet perform and it definitely got me excited for the upcoming holidays!

Prima Princessa Presents The Nutcracker would make a perfect gift this holiday season! For some coloring fun visit the Prima Princessa website for printable coloring pages that your budding ballerinas will love!

 

http://makingmyamericandream.blogspot.com/2009/10/prima-princessa-presents-nutcracker.html (10-27-09)

Pretty Baby

 Pretty Babies thinks "Prima Princessa Presents The Nutcracker" makes a great gift for the holidays. We have to agree. Thanks Pretty Babies!

Prima Princessa - baller DVDs for children

Here is the review:

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Holiday Gift Idea - Prima Princessa

It's October 25, which means that Christmas will be here in two short months.

That makes my head hurt.

Fear not! If you have little girls in your life, I've got a super gift idea. It's the Prima Princessa Nutcracker video!

We also have the first Prima Princessa video - Swan Lake - but since we're talking about Christmas, I thought I'd feature the Nutcracker one, instead. (Disclosure: The fine folks at Prima Princessa sent me both of the DVDs free of charge so that I could review them and tell you about them).

My kids love both of our Prima Princessa videos. I feel good about letting them watch these videos, too, because they're educational, unlike other princess videos we own which are merely entertaining. Mary Grace loves ballet, and when she watches these videos she's exposed to classical music, ballet terms and phrases, and even French (pas de chat is a ballet move, and the name is French).

I thought about giving away the videos, but we honestly love them too much. I can't part with them. So if you want them for your own princess, you can get them at Amazon.com. The Nutcracker is here and Swan Lake is here. As you'll see, they have great reviews at Amazon too.

So if you have little girls in your life, I highly recommend that you order a copy of The Nutcracker for them for Christmas, which is only two months away. Eek.

http://prettybabies.blogspot.com/2009/10/holiday-gift-idea-prima-princessa.html

Prima Princessa's Ballet for Beginners: Featuring the School of American Ballet

Stephanie and Mary Kate are super excited to announce that their book with Imagine Publishing, "Prima Princessa's Ballet for Beginners: Featuring the School of American Ballet" is now available for pre-order online at Barnes & Noble! It will hit the stores early next year.

Budding ballerinas and little princesses alike are sure to love this book full of wonderful photos of actual ballet steps demonstrated by students from the School Of American Ballet as well as gorgeous illustrations of our favorite fairy ballerina, Prima Princessa.

Check out this description of the book from the publisher:

Synopsis

Prima Princessa invites budding ballerinas to explore the wonderful world of ballet! Is there any more enticing figure than the ballerina? Dressed in a fluffy tutu, wearing her pink pointe shoes, and dancing so gracefully, she's what every little girl longs to be. But what does it take to make that fantasy come true? Thanks to the charming, illustrated Prima Princessa, would-be ballerinas will enjoy a privileged peek into the dancer's world. The fairy-like Princessa ushers readers into New York City's famous School of American Ballet (SAB) in Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts-the finest dance academy in the U.S. and the starting point for most of the New York City Ballet's ballerinas. Through stunning photography, they'll enter SAB's classrooms and get an intimate look at how elite dancers train. The visit begins in a pre-ballet class, moves to SAB's Children's Ballet Division (11-year-olds), and finally arrived at the near-professional Advanced Ballet classes (16-year-olds). Along the way, newcomers to ballet will learn about the school's dress code; see close-up images of young students demonstrating all the basic positions; and find out what goes into performing each step. Just like a real dance class, the book opens with a barre-where dancers warm up-and then shifts to the center, where ballerinas can show off their balance, perform combinations, and eventually practice partnering. (There's also a glimpse at boy's class, too!) The on-the-page performance is absolutely inspiring, with every dancer in perfect, elegant form: all the photos and instructions have been checked by the teachers at SAB for accuracy. And most exciting of all is watching a girl get ready to go onstage for a dress rehearsal, applying her makeup, straightening their costumes, and making sure every hair is in place. It's the stuff of which dreams are made, and the finest children's introduction to ballet ever published!

 

Amanda Contests, Reviews & More

 
 Amanda loves "Prima Princessa Presents The Nutcracker", but even more importantly  her daughter Sarah loves it and has been watching it over and over!

Thanks for spreading the word!

Prima Princessa - ballet DVDs for kids

The review:

Last year we had the chance to review Prima Princessa Presents Swam Lake and my girls loved the DVD. Especially since they are both in ballet watching ballet DVDs are fun for the.

When I heard about the new DVD Prima Princessa Presents The Nutcracker I knew my girls would want it! And boy do they. Sarah has been watching it over and over.

I actually have recommended Prima Princessa DVDs to a few of my friends who little girls are struggling in Ballet. I told them it’s a great way to get them excited and of course PRACTICE!

Prima Princessa features the world famous San Francisco Ballet performing Nutcracker, with a cartoon fairy ballerina narrating so that kids of all ages can enjoy this classic holiday tale. Between acts you’ll see live action demos of real ballet steps performed by School of American Ballet students, plus contagiously adorable tutu-clad children!

http://mommymandy.com/prima-princessa-presents-the-nutcracker-dvd/ (10-21-09)