Review of Dance Performance The Nutcracker by Salwa Rizkalla

I Went to CalArts Winter Dance 2019 and watched the dance festival take place, however; the one that stuck out to me was The Nutcracker choreographed by Salwa Rizkalla. She annual host The Nutcracker in Irvine and promoted it while at the show. The Nutcracker is a ballet performance and represents a more classical time in dancing. The choreographer expressed herself with her passion, by the way, the dance was performed you can tell that it wasn’t the first rodeo compared to some of the other dances I witnessed. The story is told at The Nutcracker, because of the sights used, including the setting and props, and the way the dancers moved their bodies. The story was simple and very clear. One of the earliest scenes were two singers came to the stage and had to make clear to the audience that they were dolls and not human beings like the other person on stage was a particular moment when moving was essential for the plot. Such dancers have used staccato arm and leg motions and have fast and accurately moving their heads. As a member of the audience, they are separate from all others on the stage

I never saw The Nutcracker Ballet in person, and it was a fascinating experience to witness for the first time. It was magnificent visually as well as musically. The music accompanying the movement of the dancer was spectacular. While I was not aware of the non-traditional Ballet aspect of this creation, since it was originally from Russia in the late 1800s, I was still enchanted by the magic and enjoyed modernization. It is an extremely interesting experience to see a ballet rather than a theater element with spoken words. I wasn't sure at first that I could follow, but I was astonished at how easy it was. The use of design choices, especially costumes, made it easy to follow the story. When the performers tried to show the audience that we had left behind reality and we’re now entering the doll's world, the costumes played an important role. The dancers are now dressed in traditional doll clothes to demonstrate that they are dolls rather than fast staccato movements. This made it more comfortable and grateful for the actors to dance while making it clear to the audience that they are no longer human beings. I haven’t seen any dances before this besides what we saw in class and hip-hop dances I have done or seen my cousins perform. Overall, the concert was amazing and I had too much fun, in my opinion, It was one of the longest festivals; however, was well worth my time and effort. I learned a lot and really got to think critically in ways I hadn’t before. I would recommend the NutCracker as a Christmas classic for many others to watch even if they aren’t into ballet just for the way they showed off the artistic value and amazing storytelling abilities which just the use of dancing.