This past weekend, The Creighton Dance Company and Creighton’s Department of Fine and Performing Arts put on “A Nightmare’s Holiday”. “A Nightmare’s Holiday” was a dance interpretation based on “A Nightmare Before Christmas” with music by Danny Elfman.
Initially, I was skeptical about the idea of a dance interpretation to one of my favorite films. I purchased my tickets and sat in the center of the audience, jittery with anticipation. As the curtains were raised, and dancers in a variety of magnificent costumes and makeup creeped through the audience to their place on stage, all of my skepticism was put aside.
The main characters of the original film all made an appearance in “A Nightmare’s Holiday.” Each had vibrant choreography that outlined and spoke for the characters. It was great to see a dance interpretation of Sally, Jack, The Mayor, and Oogie Boogie. Like most dance performances, not a single word was uttered by the dancers, but the characters and storyline were made clear through the costumes, choreography, and scene changes. The music used for this show was the same as much of the music in the original film. This helped with familiarity to the storyline.
The choreography itself ranged from ballet, to tap, and jazz. This wide variety made the whole show itself more entertaining. It helped with the storyline as well. In Halloween-Town, the dances were mostly jazz and tap, with some ballet. In Christmas-Town, the dances were more flowy, and mostly ballet.
Each dancer in the show brought their character to life. I felt a connection to everyone from Jack to the poor elves that were kidnapped and taken to Halloween-Town. There were dancers of all ages in this performance, but that didn’t stop anyone from dancing wonderfully.
I was very impressed by this performance, and encourage everyone who did not attend “A Nightmare’s Holiday” to consider attending a future dance show.
