Yvanna Haddad
“The Little Dancer” Critique
The production of “The Little Dancer” is based off of the sculpture by Edgar Degas. I thought that it was really cool how they made a whole show about a simple sculpture that was repulsive when people first saw it. They brought the story to life and I, personally, love it when they make it so real that I feel a part of it. Everything about the show and how they put it together was phenomenal! I loved every single bit of it.
First of all, the stage was amazing! The idea that the proscenium was a picture frame was out of this world! It literally looked like the whole show was a moving picture. It was gold, vintagelooking, and absolutely gorgeous! The whole room, including the seating arrangement, looked like it was a Broadway show. The shows that I have seen on Broadway look so similar to that theater in the Kennedy Center. It truly felt like it was meant to be there and hopefully it does one day.
The atmosphere in the audience was really interesting. There were many types of different people there. For example, the people that sat behind us weren’t speaking English, which I thought was really cool. Maybe they understood the language but didn’t speak it, or maybe one person with them was translated everything for them. Overall, everyone was so intrigued and deeply into the show. Everyone was focused on the characters and everything that was happening. If something happened in the show, I could hear people in the audience react to it. That’s when I realized that the story was made so lifelike that we were a part of it.
The audience responded really well to the performance. It was probably the best audience that I was a part of! After each dance was over, everyone would clap like no other! They were all very respectful. Besides the fact that someone’s phone went off in the beginning. I thought it was funny but that was during the time they gave us to turn them off while characters were talking so it was okay.
The show was about the story of a girl named Marie, a young ballerina who posed for
Edgar Degas, and inadvertently, became the most famous dancer in the world. She was torn by her family’s poverty, debt to the artist, and the lure of wealthy men. During all of that she struggles to keep her place in the ballet. The whole thing was based off of the actual sculpture of
Marie titled
Little Dancer Aged Fourteen.
Although the play is part fact and part fiction, it makes the whole story flow together as though the missing pieces of the story were true in the play. It is set in the harsh backstage world of the Paris Opera Ballet in 1951.
One character that I admired in the show was Marie, played by Tiler Peck. She was fantastic at the role! She didn’t have as much of a strong singing voice as the rest of the characters, but I think the producer knew that so they didn’t give strong songs for her to sing.
They gave her songs that were just right for her. One thing that I am completely jealous of is her dancing. She was flawless and made it look so easy! Her personality was just right for the role. It seemed as though that role was made for her, like it was destiny. I thought she played the part perfectly! The part where I thought was particularly dramatic was when she was lost in the hallways with one of the men in suits and he tried to seduce her, but when she realized what was happening, she freaked out and started screaming and shouting hoping someone would hear her.
After that when she was running through the hallways trying to get back and running away from
that man, I thought that was so dramatic. I was really impressed because that whole scene even got me scared for her!
Another character that I loved in the show was Marie’s little sister, Charlotte, played by
Sophia Anne Caruso. She was beautiful and had a gorgeous singing voice. I wish I could have a voice like hers. Marie and she would have a little alliance against their
