By Izzy Requa, Sports Editor
The audience stills when the dancers walk out onto the stage. Months of training have led up to this moment. The Outer Banks Centre for Dance has been performing “The Nutcracker” ballet during Christmas every other year, and for both the dancers and the audience, watching “The Nutcracker” has become a favorite Christmas tradition.
Junior Elizabeth Montgomery and freshman Hannah Montgomery have been doing “The Nutcracker” since they were in elementary school. They enjoy participating in it despite the challenging number of practices.
“We’ve practiced every Saturday since August. And this past month we’ve been doing every Monday and Tuesday,” Hannah said.
Like so many others, the sisters believe that Christmas isn’t the same without the show.
“ ‘The Nutcracker’ gets you into the Christmas spirit,” Elizabeth said. “And you get all the fun costumes and pretty backgrounds. There is this one scene where they have snowflakes falling from the ceiling and that’s my favorite part. It’s so magical, and very professional.”
The dance teacher for the Outer Banks Centre for Dance, Marjorie Knapp, has been dancing since she was 5. The performance of the ballet at FFHS earlier this month was her eighth “Nutcracker.”
“My favorite part is when the choreography is over and I can just sit back and look at it,” Knapp said. “After the dances are over and I look at them, everybody’s trying their best. Even if it’s not perfect, they still dance with their heart and soul, and it really looks good.”
Knapp has always loved dance, and she considers it an art. She loves looking back at the final product and seeing what she has created.
“I call it canvas in motion. The videos are very important because that’s my art right there. The dancers are the music – they are dancing the music, interpreting the music through their bodies,” Knapp said.
Knapp appreciates both the dances and the music in “The Nutcracker.” The multiple elements in the dance make it a perfect thing for families to watch at Christmastime.
“The music is incredible: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. What’s really amazing is that he did ‘Swan Lake,’ he did ‘Sleeping Beauty,’ all those beautiful ballets, and ‘The Nutcracker’ was his least favorite, and it’s his most famous,” Knapp said. “The music is just enchanting. The music will just capture you.”
Even for those who might not have a passion for dance, there are lots of things to love about “The Nutcracker,” including the beautiful costumes.
“And little kids, even if they don’t understand it, they just see all the beautiful colors and hear the enchanting music, so that’s what I think that the audience really likes about ‘The Nutcracker.’ We have something for everyone there,” Knapp said.
Knapp believes “The Nutcracker” is a Christmas tradition worth repeating and looks forward to her dancers performing in various roles as they grow older.
“It’s become an Outer Banks tradition. I do it almost every two years and a lot of my dancers that I have, they go on to make a dance career,” she said. “Even if they don’t, they become leaders. It just makes them all really confident, and with poise they can accomplish anything, because of the discipline that dance gives them.”
Junior Izzy Requa can be reached at requais0227@daretolearn.org.
