Students Perform The Nutcracker in Candyland

Two dancers twirled onto the empty stage in flowing white skirts, illuminated by the pale blue light. They fluttered across the stage before disappearing into the wings. Soon, another graceful duet waltzed towards a spellbound audience. Every flick of the wrist and lift of the leg embodied the delicate beauty of a snowflake. As more ballerinas joined the fray, they moved in unison with each other—with a precision that reveals how much rehearsal went into perfecting this performance. Then the snow begins to fall as if it were a scene from a fairytale. Last weekend at the Goel Center for Theater and Dance, Exeter’s dance department showcased a retelling of The Nutcracker. The story revolves around the Phillips Family and their children Clara, Marie, and Fritz who are introduced to the Candyland world. Complete with battle scenes, a Queen Frostine and candies, the performance was an hour and 30 minutes long with a 10-minute intermission. The culmination of hard work from many people resulted in the dance's success. Since September 5th, the dance company has been practicing every day for eight weeks. Dancers and faculty alike collaborated to create a predominantly original choreography, while also coordinating with the production team. Director Amberlee Darling elaborated on the long yet rewarding production process. “I wrote the synopsis in the beginning of September,” she said. “Then, we held student auditions for the company and choreographers … From there I created the schedules for creating a giant production in eight weeks and then making sure that the arc of the storyline went through the work of the seven different student choreographers and two adult choreographers.” “Producing a full-length ballet or a full-length show—especially with a narrative—requires a lot of collaboration,” Allison Duke, the Assistant Director said. “We like to think of it like Harkness in motion, Harkness on its feet. Everybody’s collaborating and exchanging ideas, and trying things out. If it doesn’t work, then you learn from it and change it.”In a discussion with the production team, Ms. Darling decided to make the setting of what was traditionally the Land of Sweets into the board game Candyland. They also substituted the typical roles of pieces like Chinese and Russian with the familiar names of  “Giggly Gumdrops” and “Mr. Mint.” These choices were not made solely out of a desire for a creative twist. “Traditionally, it’s set in a 19th century wealthy German home on Christmas Eve,” Duke described. “We wanted to broaden the scope of the story and not make it so historically situated, and [we] wanted to remove associations with different cultures or ethnicities in the second act.” To coordinate all aspects of the show—from lights to costumes to choreography—Darling led weekly production meetings. The team was comprised of Jacob Josef, the technical director; Lauren Josef, Costume Designer and Director of Costumes; Cary Wendel, Set Designer; Anna-Maria Forger, Teaching Intern; and Allison Duke. “It’s been really fun to create a story ballet to have a dream and have the creative team make it come to life,” Darling reflected.Like many of the costumes in this year’s production, Queen Frostine’s costume was a special order. Making costumes from scratch was no easy feat, according to Ms. Forger, the intern this year in the Theater and Dance Department. “We drew a lot of inspiration from Candyland, the game, and then there's a whole process of making renderings and floating them by the director and getting them approved,” she said.  In fact, they had been previously limited to concert dance—four to three-minute dance pieces that expressed something abstract. The construction of the Goel Center has allowed for more drawn out performances and more narrative-styled productions.With The Nutcracker’s story-like structure, upper Annie Shin noted the acting aspect of the performance. “There’s a lot more acting involved,” Shin explained. “In any dance, you’re always acting on some level, but it was much more prominent in this show.” Dancer and upper Christina Xiao could speak on the increased amount of acting in this production from a first-hand point of view, as she was in charge of choreographing “Gingerbread Farm” which told a lighthearted and mischievous story. “In my dance, there is a narrative I’m trying to tell,” Xiao said. “I have a minute and a half to tell the story, and [although] I have to express that in such a short amount of time, I think we’ve achieved [an emotional performance].” Members of the surrounding Exeter community also enjoyed the production, including Chad Dixon and his family. “I think it has been very well done, and I thought it was beautiful and very artistic,” he said. Dixon heard about the show when out on a walk; he saw posters advertising it and decided to take his children to come see the show. Many audience members enjoyed the lighthearted performance, noting the dancers’ ability to make the choreography look effortless. “I thought the dancers were incredibly skilled and had a lot of grace and poise,” prep Lara Muyobwe said. “The whole thing made me feel like a kid again, and I felt truly transported into the world [of The Nutcracker].”