When it comes to Christmas films many are packed with elements of fantasy. Reasonings for how Santa achieves his annual worldwide delivery, and keeps the North Pole hidden, introduce sci-fi leanings with increasingly futuristic ideas. Delving into imagination has long been a big part of many fictional festive films, no matter what genre. However, this year’s Alternative Christmas Film Advent Calendar switches focus to look at documentaries which follow real world Christmas stories and figures, each with their own strand of imagination, festive spirit and occasional fantasy.
Hundreds of performances of The Nutcracker happen across the world every December, many in the US. The New York City Ballet’s production is attended by over 100,000 people each year. Performed by children and adults alike, fellow documentary Getting To The Nutcracker follows a largely adult-performed production, sometimes a new interpretation comes to the stage, such as The Hot Chocolate Nutcracker put on by the Debbie Allen Dance Academy.
Featuring modern musical numbers and new segments such as Bollywood The Hot Chocolate Nutcracker is designed by Allen and her fellow dance teachers to more greatly feature and involve the young students at her dance academy; putting them front and centre of the production – instead of, as one teacher says, just having a brief moment to run across the stage like in the regular production. Throughout the build-up to the performances we hear from Allen about her views on teaching and the Hot Chocolate Nutcracker, her teachers and staff about their own dreams and where they hope to go professionally and, of course, the young people trying to fulfil their own dreams within this production and their own future.
As the big day gets closer and closer Christmas increasingly leaks into view alongside it. The festive season begins to emerge in the rehearsals before the explosion of colourful Christmas cheer in the final product. Of course, the documentary leans into the idea of a race against time in getting everything ready, including costumes and sets alongside each routine and segment of the production. All playing into a light countdown to Christmas and how it’s captured within both the regular production of the Nutcracker and the special one featuring talking mice put on by DADA.
The hints towards the festive season cause the film to lean into more of a feeling of seasonal viewing than other documentaries which look at The Nutcracker and generally bring about a more conventionally feel-good nature as we see the young performers; a number of whom are accepted and given an opportunity by Allen that they may not be given elsewhere simply for money reasons, and those around them, succeeding and striding forward in trying to achieve their dance-based dreams. There’s plenty of determination on display from everyone interviewed, and involved in the production as a whole, and it allows for the closing scenes of performance to have an even more uplifting and entertaining effect. Wrapped in a glitzy, glittery bow.
Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker can be watched in the following places:
Netflix
If you live outside the UK, JustWatch is worth looking at to see if the film is available to buy, rent or stream elsewhere.
Just A Little Bit Random 