“The Nutcracker” is a classic ballet that has has been performed for more than 130 years.
At Mt. Vernon, a local studio, Dance Creation, rents the auditorium and has been performing “The Nutcracker” for a few years. This year was no exception.
This year it was from December 8 to December 10. This specific dance company typically performs in roughly the same costumes yearly, sometimes there is a slight change in variation.
“The Nutcracker” is about a young girl, Clara, who receives a nutcracker for Christmas. When she goes to bed, she dreams that the nutcracker comes to life and leads an army of toy soldiers to battle the mouse king. Afterwards, she is taken on a journey to the land of sweets where she meets the Sugarplum Fairy.
In “The Nutcracker,” there are plenty of solos. Typically, the Sugarplum Fairy wears a purple dress and has a solo. Clara has multiple solos and wears a couple of different dresses, including her nightgown, which is white. There are also duos like the song, “Chinese Tea” where the girls wear red traditional Chinese clothing.
The girls in this ballet all have multiple roles and some parents even come in and help become the parents in the ballet. The parents typically do not dance.
“The Nutcracker” is about two hours long and has an intermission. All the dancers were recruited to and had at least two years of dancing in order to be a part of the play. They also needed to be enrolled in Dance Creation.
