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LOOK INSIDE: Edgar Allan Poe’s Nutcracker (the un-ballet)

by Hanne Appelbaum -

All photos by Scott Pakudaitis and courtesy of Interact.

A sure sign of the March on Christmas (not to be confused with the War on Christmas) is the opening of The Nutcracker at a theatre near you. Somehow, somewhere, even if you find a new way of living, a Nutcracker will always be there come December. Or, the way that Christmas music starts playing after Halloween some places, sometimes before Thanksgiving has come and gone. [Editor’s note: The Twin Cities Arts Reader opposes all forms of Christmas music, decoration, and eggnog distribution until Thanksgiving night at the very earliest.]

But what to do if sugar plum fairies have come a little too frequently and the Chinese dance is no longer your thing? Depending on your tastes, you might end up with a Slutcracker (a burlesque satire), innumerable parodies, and…Edgar Allan Poe + banjo? If you’re confused about that last connection, take a look at these pictures from the Interact Center for the Visual and Performing Arts performance of Edgar Allan Poe’s Nutcracker (the un-ballet):

Do you have any idea what this ball is about?
Do you have any idea what this ball is about?
Tutus are all the rage in village fashion.
Tutus are all the rage in village fashion.
Hopfrog and Tripetta, a pair of wanderers, show off at a village they visit.
Hopfrog and Tripetta, a pair of wanderers, show off at a village they visit. The beatings may continue until the applause is acceptable.
I am a raven and I'm not afraid to quoth.
I am a raven and I’m not afraid to quoth.

Edgar Allan Poe’s Nutcracker (the un-ballet) plays November 21 to December 19, 2015 at the Interact Center for the Visual and Performing Arts performance of Edgar Allan Poe’s Nutcracker (the un-ballet).

Hanne Appelbaum

Hanne Appelbaum is the Editor of the Twin Cities Arts Reader. She was born in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and moved to the Twin Cities to take up a career as a classroom paraprofessional. She is the mother of three children, an enthusiastic educator, and a passionate fan of dance in all of its forms. She enjoys ice skating, Game of Thrones (books over HBO, but who's counting), and restaurant dives.

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