Performers at ‘The Enchanted Snow Globe’ show at the Harquail Theatre over the weekend were certainly not keeping their feet on the ground for the spectacle that highlighted the incredible talent of Quinntessential Movement’s dancers and acrobats.
The show, an original production by Quinn McCrimmon and Tracey Burns and a fundraiser for the Cayman Islands Cancer Society, wowed the audience on 6 and 7 Dec., with the dancers showing off their aerial and pole theatrical skills before a backdrop of seasonal images and with a soundtrack of mesmerising music.
A wonderful blend of aerial acrobatics and dance using poles, silk hammocks and rings, the show begins with a bored little boy, Oliver, visiting his granny – somewhat reluctantly. While exploring the attic, he finds a snow globe, which magically shows him scenes from his grandmother’s childhood. The child and elderly woman go on a trip down memory lane via the snow globe.
Colour and movement
The stage initially transforms into a Bridgerton-type ballroom scene, with dancers in jewel-coloured gowns and suits of brocade and satin twirling across the stage. Soon after though, the non-ground-based talents of the performers become extremely clear as a snowflake-inspired scene morphs into a solo that showed off one dancer’s ability, strength and flexibility on a pole that stood centre stage.
Next up were beautiful coloured butterflies that flitted across the stage, and woodland creatures with furry ears and noses, and long tails (kudos to the agile performers for manoeuvring those around the silk hammocks the dancers manipulated and used as both their support and their prop).
Those silk hammocks were long strips of material hanging from the top of the stage that the dancers wrapped around themselves and enabled them to hang upside down, do splits or pirouettes, or strike a pose. They also left the audience gasping as the aerial acrobats, at times, would suddenly seem to drop to the ground, halting at the last second, often upside down, just inches from the floor.
Alice in Wonderland also featured, with all the usual suspects – Alice herself, who observed the various glorious scenes – the Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit, Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, the Cheshire Cat, the Caterpillar, the King and Queen of Hearts and a fabulous chorus of playing cards.
This was followed by solos by a variety of dolls – Disco Barbie, a mermaid and a ragdoll, and then an ensemble piece by candy canes.
The show culminated in a joyful Christmas medley dance as Oliver’s entire family show up for the holidays.
Preparing for the show
Quinntessential Movement owner McCrimmon, as well as being a creator and producer of the show, also choreographed some of the numbers. She said she started working on her choreography back in August and rehearsals for the show started in September.
“We met every Sunday for three to four hours,” she said, with some rehearsals taking place during the week.
“These types of performances are forever evolving over the time period of creation until showtime,” she said. “The end result is really never known until you get into the theatre. Sometimes your ideas work and sometimes they don’t.
“I think this one came together very nicely and truly became magical once we brought it into the theatre with lights, sound and depth of the stage. We really had a talented cast which helped bring the production to life.”
Asked about the range of music that accompanied the performances, Quinn said, “I think the variety of music comes from all the choreographers involved. Everyone is inspired by different songs so I try not to give people music to work with, but rather have them run their songs past us to make sure it fits the big picture.”
This was Quinntessential’s second show this year – and the first time it has done two in a single year.
Commenting on whether the Christmas show was likely to become an annual event on Cayman’s festive calendar, McCrimmon said, “We really enjoyed the collaboration in fundraising for the Cayman Islands Cancer Society, so it really depends on everyone’s capacity for such a big project. We’d certainly love to do it again and work towards a new show.”
Related Videos
