The audience was antsy in their seats, waiting for the performance to start. The outer lights turned off, the curtains were drawn to the sides, and the actors in costume were shown. The introduction of the play began.

The nutcracker is a tradition at Goffstown High School. It is an adaptation from the original nutcracker.  It is a Russian ballet that is performed every year by the GHS MoDaCo program. The story is of a young girl, Clara, and her adventures with a toy nutcracker that is really a prince. After protecting the toy nutcracker from the Mouse King, the toy takes Clara to the Land of Snow. This part of the performance shows many sweets and different countries. Anywhere from 20 to 50 students act in the play every December, except last year due to Covid. This year thirty eight students, including tech, prepared from the end of October until the first performance at the beginning of December.

Branigan Bernstein, the new teacher of MoDaCo, since the beginning of the year, explained that the nutcracker is “looked forward to every year”. She said how the nutcracker is a great performance that everyone can watch, “for only seven to ten dollars”.

The Nutcracker ballet, made by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, was originally performed in 1891 in the Moscow Imperial Theatres. The nutcracker is popular in December because of the play’s ability to reach out and touch the audience’s warm holiday memories. That is why the Nutcracker is related to Christmas.  Ever since it was played in Western Europe during the 1940s, it has been a classic every year during Christmas time.

A participant of the Modaco club at GHS left to practice for the third time this week. He was nervous for the first performance, given that he was one of the lead roles. It was his first time being one of the major characters in a play.

Will Carlson, a junior at GHS, and a participant in Modaco as the nutcracker. Will has been performing in GHS plays for two years. During his freshman year, he was the butler in The Nutcracker, and his sophomore year the play was not performed due to Covid-19. The preparation for the Nutcracker was not too rigorous this year due to a smaller number of performers.

The Modaco program at GHS is very well done and easy to get into, if you want to participate. Modaco stands for the Movement and Dance Company. This program is the second level dance class at GHS. Intro to dance is the prerequisite for Modaco, however if you participate in a musical at GHS, then you are able to join Modaco right away.

Will Carlson explained that Modaco is “very fun” and “very enjoyable if you like dancing.” Branigan Bernstein expressed her enjoyment of teaching the program by saying that “she enjoys teaching students to express themselves through movement.” She explained that “if you have taken the intro class, I highly recommend Modaco as the second level to dance at GHS.”

Branigan Bernstein and Will Carlson both agreed that Modaco is a great program for anyone that likes to dance or wants to learn how to dance. The practices are not too difficult even for beginners. The performances are also a lot of fun to be in and watch.