Winter cheer has returned to Missoula for yet another year thanks to our very own modern dance company, Bare Bait Dance.
The show is called The Night Before, and it features songs from Duke Ellington’s The Nutcracker Suite, as well as some other spirited music. Decked to the brim with fun costumes and props, the show gives the audience just the right amount of Christmas spirit and relatability needed to kick off the winter season.
Without spoiling too much, one piece does feature the most spectacular red skirts that, whether intentional or not, pay the perfect homage to the classic costumes featured in The Nutcracker, displaying one that you would see one of the characters wearing.
Highlighting yet another truly unique piece, Allison McKinney delivers an outstanding performance accompanied by a medley of classic and quirky Christmas songs. The opening of the piece features a voice recollecting on an article she read, essentially about how to have a Christmas correctly. She mentions the stresses of the holidays, and McKinney delivers those very emotions through her movement and facial expressions.
This show is a good reminder of the hard times holidays can bring to individuals, but it highlights the joy and importance of it as well.
The show opened the weekend of Nov. 24 and will run through Dec. 10, you can find tickets and more information at thewestsidetheater.com.
