By: Sara Awad 

Knightdale's Dance Students perform the Nutcracker.

    Suspense filled the air as Ms. Wills Dance Classes 1-3 and Dance Ensemble waited to take the stage on the night of December 15^th.  A beautiful garland displaying an array of Christmas lights was strung across the front of the stage. 

     Then, out came little Clara, played by Megan Woodlief, along with Fritz, played by Lisa Namsaly, and their loving mother and father, Allison Adams and Joanne Leary’s characters.  Moments later, Godfather Drosselmeyer, played by Morgan Poole, arrived hoping to bring Clara and Fritz a few holiday surprises.  Clara was given a lovely nutcracker doll but was all too soon overcome with sleep.  In her dreams, Clara was soon whisked away by angels to the land of the nutcracker. 

     Even the audience became a part of Clara’s fantasy as performers danced down the aisles of the auditorium during the Christmas Party scene.  Back on stage, life-size presents were wheeled in complete with dolls, Edwinna Kolio-Hicks and Lynetta Spells, popping out of them.  This led to the Sugar Plum Dance performed by Dance Ensemble.  The Sugar Plum Dance complimented the show nicely as it epitomized The Nutcracker. 

     Elaborate costumes of various colors and style were displayed throughout the performance as Clara traveled to distant and exotic lands.  When asked about the costumes dance teacher Ms. Wills revealed, “It’s tough to do.  We reused costumes and made costumes using inexpensive materials.”   In Africa themed performance, dancers were bedecked in a brown and orange plaid sarong over top of dark fabric as they moved to the sounds of African drums. 

      Replacing the upbeat African dance, the elegant Snowflake dance was performed by Dance 1.  Charming white dresses were worn with an intricate black trim illustrating the beauty of a snowy, winter day.  Unfortunately Joanne Leary’s character, the Rat King, and his soldiers arrived in hot pursuit of Clara. The dance classes took us on a journey walking like Egyptians through Arabia, continued into China with a colorful dragon. The audience ventured through Spain and Russia concluded with a Waltz of the Flowers. 

      Logan Wheeless, Megan Woodlief, Lindsay Sakiewicz, and Heather Stokes closed the show with Christmas Without You.  Knight of the Nutcracker was definitely a job well done due to the magnificent performance and tremendous hard-work of all the dancers that contributed, especially Dance 1.  Brianna Strayhorn, a member of Dance 1, said about the performance, “I felt like we did really well.  Everybody put their best effort into it.”  Ms. Wills exclaimed, “I thought it came across very classical.”