News

Gentle NCDT ‘Nutcracker’ has a hint of the new

Years ago, a teacher took a little girl who'd never left the confines of Cabarrus County to an N.C. Dance Theatre performance of "The Nutcracker" in Charlotte. She'd told the girl about the beauties of classical ballet and shown her pictures of ballerinas in their delicate outfits.

Through Act 1, the girl leaned over to ask, "Where are the tutus? Where are the tutus?" Suddenly the setting switched from Clara's house to the Land of Snow, and she bent forward, saucer-eyed. "The tutus!" she whispered. A love affair was born.

That's the point of "Nutcracker" and the reason it comes back year after year to Belk Theater.