The professional dancers were extraordinary. For it to be promoted as a performance by the Carolina Ballet though, it had too many child and youth dancers. There were several parts that seemed out of synch. I wasn’t sure if it was poor choreography or amateur dancers.
We loved the diversity of the cast, the wonderful children who played a part, the costumes and - man - the talent both on the stage and in the pit (which we were fortunate enough to have a good view of) was just fantastic.
It was beautiful and made more perfect by performers and symphony!!
We've been to the nutcracker performance by the Carolina Ballet before and to be honest this one was a total let down. Didn't like the change from traditional Victorian setting, way too many kid performers, and they took away many of the favorite dances in the 2nd act. In several dances the ballerinas were out of sink and one ballerina almost hit another one while twirling and then fell over while trying to land on her knee and had to prop herself up with her hand. I feel like they took the difficult dances out because they don't have the talent to do them thus adding alot of children dancers as fillers and for the cute factor. Even the sugar plum fairy relied to heavily on her partner to just spin her around and toss her back and forth. I felt like an amateur ballet performance of The Nutcracker I attend at the Cary Ballet School was better executed and the dancer were more disciplined, better choreographed and more talented. Total let down for the price of the tickets. It felt more like an expensive school play then a professional show. While there were many talented dancers overall it was a let down from the caliber of performance I've seen before by the Carolina Ballet.
The atmosphere and docents are wonderful. We were able to see the stage clearly. The dance company is enjoyable. Btw, the seats are very comfortable.
Not a particularly enjoyable show. Wish I could be more positive but the dancing, score, and costumes all underwhelmed.
Frankenstein, the ballet, was beautiful and so creative with how they told the story! It exceeded our expectations! I'm not a fan of Ticketmaster, but I loved the show!
I really enjoyed the performance. Le coursiare ballet reminded me of when Baryshnikov did it. It was wonderful. The firebird was fantastic and I enjoyed the placement of more modern pieces. Well done!
Carolina Ballet always presents an artistic, finely-honed performance with meaning and nuance. Having seen ballet companies in many major cities, I can sincerely say those of us who call Raleigh home are lucky to have such an exciting and polished ballet company right here. Their most recent performance showed the depth and breadth of the dancers' and choreographers' talents - from classic Balanchine choreography to cutting-edge, imaginative ballet and beyond. Carolina Ballet is a real treasure!
All in all, this was a very nice performance. I especially liked the pas de deux. The dancers are very skilled and I was impressed. The fact that the music was on a recording and not live was a real distraction and robbed the program of its full impact and glory. Better to have no music at all and let the power and beauty of the dancing suffice. Good job, everyone!
Half the ballet was different musical selections with different short dances. The second half was the story of the firebird, which was nice, but I expected the whole show to be the story of the firebird. I come to see ballets to be transported into a story for an afternoon
I did not expect to see so much variety in this performance. Portions of the night had me on the edge of my seat and the finale of Firebird gave me chills. The dancers were fantastic, and the stories were lovely. I will be attending again.
All white dancers all the time. I thought the arts were supposed to represent all colors and gender identities. Be better please
As Always, The Carolina Ballet Company performs above and beyond. These mesmerizing performances become more outstanding each season.
The students were terrific and learned well. Looking forward to the new season.
I saw their show of sleeping beauty and it’s amazing.
I haven't been to a ballet in years, and the past three years had me in isolation due to being immuno-compromised. This performance was my first time in a crowd since 2020! Everything was stunning - the set, the costumes, the music, and most especially the dancing!! The story was depicted so tenderly that I was moved to tears. I've never seen anything like it! Thank you for the experience of a lifetime!
If music is the good of love, dance must be the dessert. This performance was stunning, the music sublime.
I recently went to a performance that had an around the globe part. It was extremely whitewashed where the dancers that were supposed to be from India and Asia were strictly white dancers.
Great to have a ballet of this quality in the area! Enjoyed the show and will return soon.
