The Nutcracker

I saw the Washington Ballet’s production of the Nutcracker this past weekend. It was fabulous. George Washington was the Nutcracker and the stage was set with symbolic cherry blossoms! (see picture) The Washington ballet performed the principle movements and they incorporated area dances troupes into the performance. (There were well over thirty small children in this show) Picture the cutest little kids running around in some of the most elaborate costumes ever. Cute little bumble bees and flowers all waiting for their moment to shine. There were two classically trained African-American children (they were both awesome!)

Secondary to the Washington Ballet there were multiple dance troupes that showcased their talent. I was a bit disappointed at the lack of classical ballet performed by the minority dance troupe. When the troups were on stage they all seemed to have a non- minority principal classically trained dancer center stage and then the minority dancers were the “backup.” As this happened several times it was quite an obvious situation. There may be many reasons for this apparent disparity nonetheless, in the future I would like to see more African-American principal dancers center stage.

All-in-all it was a very diverse performance. The performance is normally held at the Kennedy Center or the like however; this year it was held in southeast D.C. at THEARC Theater. The significance being that southeast D.C. is a predomately African-American area of the district that for years has been historical underdeveloped and neglected. I was so excited to see THEARC hosting this event!

While at the show I ran into a woman with auburn colored sisterlocks. Me being a lock stalker and all…I went over to this woman and started a conversation about her hair. She was very sweet. She has had her locks for six years and she recently cut them. The slightly troubling aspect of this story is she did not realize that I had sisterlocks. (how is this possible(lol) When I told her that I had sisterlocks she seemed very surprised. The same thing happened when I ran up to a woman in Restoration hardware. She loved my hair but she did not realize they were sisterlocks. What is the deal? Maybe these sisters were locked so long ago that they do not remember the curly stage? Dunno? Anyway if you are in D.C. please check out the Nutcracker, you will not be disappointed!