Here's the scoop about me and Ballet - We never clicked! I want to fill my life with so much music, arts and dance that when it comes to dance, I enjoy EVERYTHING! From Hip Hop, Street Dance, the sizzling Salsa, Bachata, Tango, Waltz and even Tap Dance (which I really wanna pick up). OK, it's everything except Ballet. Hence I never accept any invitation to Ballet Under The Stars or other similar *yawn* dance performances.
And as the Christmas season drew near, I thought if my perception of Opera changed with Turandot, maybe an equally breathtaking performance will do the same for Ballet. My best bet was with The Nutcracker classic. It had all the elements that would make an entertaining performance; a Christmas theme, musical score by my fav composer, Tchaikovsky, Nutcracker Dolls that magically come alive and battles with rats and pretty Sugar Plum Fairies! And in this new version by the Singapore Dance Theatre, The Nutcracker is set in a pre-WWI, turn-of-the-century, colonial Shanghai setting. An interesting twist to the wintry Germany which worked very well considering many of the dancers were Asian.
The Nutcracker is a light-hearted tale of adventure and courage featuring Clara and her adventures after she receives a beautifully-crafted nutcracker doll from Dr Drosselmeyer.
At the stroke of midnight, the Nutcracker doll comes alive and comes to her rescue when her room is invaded by an army of rats. The King Rat is defeated by the Nutcracker Doll, and The Nutcracker is transformed into a Prince. The Nutcracker Prince then treats Clara to a magical journey through the Land of Snow and the Kingdom of Sweets, where she is enchanted with sights of Spain, France, Istanbul, Russia, China and Holland and later greeted by the Snow Queen and the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Prince.
Directed by SDT Artistic Director Janek Schergen, the stage and costumes were expected of the grandeur and fairy-tale like settings.
But as much as I really wanted the love The Nutcracker, Ballet really did not rub me in the right spot. More often than not, I was disturbed with the male dancers in tights! Oh they looked so wrong!
And so I was naive. Maybe it's still not yet time for me to truly appreciate this dance form.
Read:
Riverdance Farewell Tour Singapore
Turandot: Night At The Opera
Raw Dance Company - Project X
More The Nutcracker Ballet Dance Pictures
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