My ballerina stepped into the world of Prima Princessa for this review

Kristen dances with her Nutcracker

My three-year-old granddaughter, Kristen, loves ballet. She requested ballet shoes, and tutus and anything ballerina for Christmas and she got plenty of it.

Kristen had fallen in love with the movie, "Barbie in the Nutcracker", so I knew when I was asked to review, "Prima Princessa Presents The Nutcracker", she would love it.  And I was right.

The first time she watched it with her older brothers in the truck during a trip. She was so excited and would say, "I can do that" or "Tyler, can you help me do that?"

She watched it again in the truck when we went to see the lights. She watched intently, as to not miss anything. Then we watched it at home and she was able to cut loose and try what she had watched.

The cartoon fairy ballerina Prima Princessa takes a group of pre-school kids 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 narrates the story so children can understand the plot. When Kristen didn't understand she would ask me a question, but stay glued to the TV.

Between acts the kids get up and dance, learning simple ballet steps from students at SAB, official academy of the New York City Ballet. Kristen tried everything they did.  

The 60 minute movie is slated for children ages 3-6.

“Prima Princessa Presents the Nutcracker,” was picked up by more than 100 Public Television and PBS stations nationwide for broadcast this Christmas. Prima Princessa is the brain-child of two housewives from New Jersey who came up with the idea to start their own children’s entertainment company from home. Stephanie Troeller and Mary Kate Mellow sold their Christmas Special like old-fashioned door-to-door salesmen, calling every Public TV station nationwide.

The duo used local talent in their production of the Nutcracker, filming preschool children from Montclair New Jersey in the fun filled dance lesson segments, with the instructional portions filmed on location in NYC at the famed School of American Ballet, the official Academy of the New York City Ballet.

“It’s really kind of amazing when you think about what we did over the Internet, with little more than a lap-top on our kitchen table we researched the industry, wrote a business plan, forged international licensing deals, wrote the scripts, produced and directed everything," says Stephanie Troeller, co-creator of Prima Princessa. "Although we’re carried by NETA for broadcast, that’s no guarantee that any stations will actually pick us up. So we got on the phone and sold it to TV stations nationwide, one at a time, call after call, ”

“Prima Princessa Presents the Nutcracker” is all about getting kids up and dancing. It's a fun as well as educational show that parents can feel good about their kids watching.” says Mary Kate Mellow co-creator.

“We came up with the idea for Prima Princessa during a play date for our daughters, said Mary Kate. "My daughter Ana, barely 3 years old at the time, loved dancing around in her dress-up tutu to the fun, fast parts in my old ballet videos. As our daughters played, Stephanie and I decided that since there were no children’s DVDs with real performance ballet on the market, we would make them ourselves! We wanted to create shows that would inspire in children a love for ballet."

"Once our Nutcracker received the Parents’ Choice Award this September we knew we had to take it to the next level and get on TV, said Stephanie. "It’s so awesome to see our show listed on TV next to Elmo and Dora! We didn’t set out to make a block-buster, we’re just two moms filling a need,”
“Prima Princessa Presents Swan Lake”, was released in 2007, and “Prima Princessa Presents Sleeping Beauty” is in production now.

For $6.99 Prima Princessa DVDs are available at major and online retailers, Amazon.com and http://www.primaprincessa.com/, and well worth the price.

Full disclosure: I received a copy of this movie to do this review. All opinions are my own and yours may differ.