I did not know what to expect going into this one and was pleasantly surprised to find out that it is more than just another take on the 'The Nutcracker' ballet. The Puerto Rican culture along with the mixing of ballet with salsa dancing is lovely to watch on screen. Moreover, 'Sugar Plum Twist' brings together a cast of fresh faces with performances that were entertaining and engaging. The story also had some noble underlining messages around cultural diversity, which were nice to see. The movie follows Natalia (played by Jamie Gray Hyder), a professional ballerina who has returned home to Richmond after an injury ended her career as a dancer. She now works as an assistant choreographer at the local ballet company, a studio she holds fond memories of growing up, hoping one day to become its resident choreographer. During an audition for the annual performance of the 'The Nutcracker' for the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Natalia meets Viviana (played by Laura Rosguer), one of the Richmond residents who auditioned for the part. Vivi's family owns a local dance studio where she teaches Salsa, but she has always dreamed of becoming a ballerina (Natalia being one of her heroes). Natalia is inspired by what she sees at Vivi's studio one evening, and so, they decide to work together to try to modernize the Christmas classic by adding a bit of a Latin twist. One of the elements I enjoyed about the movie is the dancing. Unlike some other Hallmark dance-based movies, the dancing in 'Sugar Plum Twist' is incorporated throughout the movie and is central to the storyline. Though the movie is sluggish at first, it picks up nicely as the story progresses with some strong dialogue, beautiful dancing, and a lot of holiday spirit and festive cheer. At one level, the story is a critique of ballet today; that is, ballet needs to change with the times (modernize). And in this story, modernizing is the mixing of (dance) cultures and traditions. At another level, the story is about the difficulties some dancers face in the ballet world or classic performing arts more broadly, and what it takes to overcome this. There is, of course, a romance story here, but it is secondary and serves mainly to supplement what I just mentioned. The acting, overall, is strong. Hyder and Rosguer both have solid performances. Rosguer has some dancing skills, which is a plus. They both have a couple of awkward acting movements but these were infrequent and did not take much away from their overall performance, I felt. The supporting cast is also very good, entertaining to watch on-screen. Though there is plenty of skill and energy in the final dance scene, which I enjoyed, there is not much ballet (and a lot of salsa) in the ballet and salsa sugar plum twist. Given that ballet is most popular in Russia - it's considered a 'state treasure' and is 'the dance of the Russian people' (rich and poor) - I would be curious to see how they felt about the mixing of ballet with salsa. Anyway, in addition to the dancing, there are plenty of Christmassy scenes that instill a bit of festive cheer. The (Puerto Rican) baked goodies at Vivi's parent's house looked delicious. All in all, if you enjoy (watching) dancing and are a fan of Hallmark Christmas movies, look no further, this one is for you.
