Living in the east I haven't had the chance to see the Alberta Ballet/Ballet British Columbia's co-production of the Russian classic, but the reviews are in, giving this show a major thumbs up.

The Nutcracker got its North American kick-start back in 1954 when George Balanchine turned the Russian work into a perennial holiday cash cow. Since then The Nutcracker's been through many different incarnations, but in many cases the productions haven't been about great ballet. Instead they've been somewhat smarmy pantomimes that appeal only to kids.

Apparently this Western Nutcracker breaks the mold, thanks to the able artistic direction of Alberta Ballet's artistic director Mikko Nissinen. In Nissinen's hands the "deadly dull party scene is a masterpiece of pacing." Rather than follow the North American model, Nissinen looked to the past to get the real feel for a fantastic Nutcracker. He modeled this year's production entirely on the 1892 Russian original. There are life-size dancing dolls, cannons which actually fire and real armies of toy soldiers and mice (provided courtesy of over 50 local school kids).

Move over Royal Winnipeg Ballet, there's a new Sugar Plum Fairy in town. The saga of the dueling Nutcrackers continues.

Some of his better known buildings include the University of Alberta Student Housing Union and Jerusalem's City Hall and City Square. He's recently been commissioned "to design the proposed Canadian Opera House (pictured above), a $130 million project slated for downtown Toronto. I have the great joy of working out in a Diamond building. He designed the Central YMCA in Hogtown and when you read this, I might just be doing laps in one of the most awesomely designed pools I've ever had the pleasure to swim in.

The RAIC Gold Medal was "first established in 1930 and is awarded to a person of science or letters related to architecture and the arts, or an architect, in recognition of their achievement and contribution to the profession." Here's just a few of the other winners: Jean Drapeau, the Right Honourable Vincent Massey, Frank O. Gehry, Phyllis Lambert, Jane Jacobs and Moshe Safdie. The medal will be officially awarded at the 2001 Festival of Architecture next May in Halifax.

Fine Tuning: Bravo TV is offering three full hours of Christmas music tonight, starting at 8 p.m. ET. It might be ideal to set your VCR now, then replay on Dec. 25th when you're more in the mood. Here's the superb lineup: