December 26, 2025
There are not enough superlatives in English, nor perhaps in any language to describe the enchantingly entertaining A Romanian Nutcracker, A Night of Awakened Tradition, produced by the Romanian dance group Datina on Saturday, December 20th at the Redmond Performing Arts Center to a sold-out audience.
As someone who has seen the traditional Nutcracker too many times, I was impressed by the creativity, innovation and unbounded joy projected from the stage to the audience.
The Nutcracker originally a ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1892, adapted from a short story by ETA Hoffman, written in 1816, has become a staple of ballet companies for its Christmas shows. (also because the children in the ballet school can perform in it) However, it has become “museumified” and is always performed as a classic museum piece with no changes in set design, costuming or choreography .
Under the direction of Andreea Isac, Datina’s artistic director and lead choreographer, the production transformed the Nutcracker into something creatively vibrant using Romanian costuming, music, folk-dancing, singing and set design while following the basic story line of the Nutcracker.
Although I was warned beforehand that none of the dancers or singers were “professionals,” I question that, as the singers, dancers and the choreography, were expert! In keeping with Nutcracker traditions, children had various dance numbers in adorable costumes, interspersed between the fast-paced, geometrically precise choreography of the dancers. Frankly the choreography, drawing on traditional choreography by Anamaria Dulama, was as professional as anything I have ever seen.
Although some of the costumes were brought directly from Romania, a team of costumers, created slightly different styles of traditional costumes for each dance number; the different styles represented the traditional ethnic dress from each province of Romania (which is, geographically, one of the largest countries of Central Europe)
Particularly awe-inspiring was the intricate choreography of Dance Suite from Sibiu, utilizing black and white costumes to enhance the outstanding visual impact of the dancing.
While playing the guitar and singing, Sofia-Cristina Visan led children and snowflakes in two brilliant musical numbers, against stunning sets, one depicting an idyllic winter scene, the other a traditional Romanian house from the two centuries ago.
Datina is the Romanian word for traditions passed down through time. From now on, Romanian Nutcracker will be a Christmas tradition for me and my family.
It is advisable to put your name on the mailing list for next year as the show sold-out very quickly.
www.facebook.com/datinaseattle
