12/14/19 Outside Dance Critique Fiona Carlone 1

On December 12, I had the wonderful opportunity to see the dress rehearsal of North

Carolina School of the Arts ‘Nutcracker.” The performance was a great source of entertainment

as well as a learning opportunity. I was able to observe both the good and bad of the show, which

was quite helpful as I was working on my own ‘Nutcracker’ performance.

The most amazing aspects of the show, as an audience member, was the special effects

and elements of design. The set was incredible. The party scene featured a beautiful home with

an exquisite tree. When the tree grew towards the end of first act, it was one of the best

transitions I’ve ever seen. The tree divided into parts that whirred and swapped places until the

tree had grown to the very top. Other than just the sets, the costumes were beautifully done. Each

looked perfect for each scene, as if straight out of the real ‘Nutcracker’ story. The tutu’s in

second act, such as Sugar Plum’s, fit the girls perfectly well. No one’s costume was baggy and

no one was busting out. It provided cohesiveness and professionality to the show. The most

impressive part of all of this, was that all of the behind the scenes was done by UNCSA students.

I find this quite impressive. It also adds a quality to the show that makes it more personal to

everyone because it shows how the whole school is able to contribute to the show. Another part

of the show I appreciated was how together the corps de ballet was. In the snow scene, each

grande jeté was in perfect timing. Each dancer brought their arms to third at the correct moment

in the music. Again, in the waltz of the flower scene, the dancers repeated this cohesiveness in

the same manner that they had in the beginning. Keeping this same continuity throughout the

whole dance makes the dancers look quite professional, preparing them for real life in a

company.

While I loved how the corps was so together, I wish the leads had showed this same

coordination. Being a dress rehearsal, the show wasn’t spotless and I’m sure the dancers were
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nervous. However, I did feel that snow queen seemed off her leg and rather shaky. Technical

elements, such as stretching through the knee and keeping your shoulders down, were noticeable

corrections I could’ve given. The sugar plum was a beautiful dancer. Beautiful feet, arabesque,

turnout. But it became quite obvious when she lost her motivation. She came out at the beginning

of second act as stunning as ever, but she didn’t finish quite as strong. Understandable,

considering how difficult and demanding that role is. Another element I thought lacked proper

plan out was some of the second act character dances. Their Spanish piece, chocolate, lacked the

actual Spanish element. It felt as if it was lacking the correct culture. In addition to Spanish, I

thought the Russian dance was honestly quite racist. It depicted the men as drunk and “dumb.”

While it held the comedic factor, I could not bring myself to laugh at the stereotypical cultural

appropriation. This problem may also lie in the roots of ‘Nutcracker’ as I’m sure a version

similar to UNCSA’s has been performed thousands of times. Overall, I thought the leads were

beautiful, but not quite strong enough to carry such demanding roles and that the character roles

were well-played, but quite stereotypical.

This was a wonderful opportunity for me. Being able to take away key elements of a

strong performance as a lead helped to translate into my own experience acting as a lead. Being

able to see what a well-timed and harmonious corps look like allows me to bring that same

energy and motivation into my own experience acting as a corps member. I would absolutely

recommend this show to anyone who enjoys a beautiful ‘Nutcracker’ with incredible backstage

designs.