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By: Lilly Rayl 12/14/23
Most of us know the story of the Mouse King and the Nutcracker, but this year IU had a different story. This year IU has a new conductor, Sasha Janes, bringing a different version of The Nutcracker to life. It was still wonderful with tickets being sold out for the performance. It was performed on November 30th at 7:00 pm, December 1st at 7:30 pm, December 2nd at 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm, and on December 3rd at 2:00 pm.Ā
The Nutcracker started out completely different then it as in past performances. The purple curtain opened to reveal a projection of snow on a thin white curtain, and an owl swooped through. āThe Nutcrackerā was projected on the curtain and it rose to the ceiling. Sasha Janes, a professor of music in the ballet department based this Nutcracker on the original story by ETA Hoffman, more than other productions have. It followed Marie the main character and her Aunt Drosselmeyer around as they went on various adventures.Ā
The new story came along with new costumes, by Linda Pisano, IU chair of theatre, drama, and contemporary dance. As well as costumes there was a big difference throughout the whole play. The set never changed apart from things being rolled on and off for different scenes. The white wall with big doors stayed on the stage the whole time, for different scenes there were projections on the wall. In some scenes props were lowered from the ceiling and LED lights at the front of the stage changed to match the colors in that scene.Ā
The Nutcracker might seem boring because it is just music and dancing but there isĀ so much to take in from each scene. The background changes, what the dancers wear, how they dance and so much more. Sometimes you might even miss things that happened. There are also parts in it that are funny, when the Mouse King attacked with his mice the audience immediately began laughing.Ā
Although the differences from previous performances, the Nutcracker was still very enjoyable. The music was the same and it was a wonderful performance. If you havenāt ever been to the Nutcracker you should go! Even if you're skeptical you should go at least once to see if you like it,Ā then you might go every year after!
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