Community Spotlight: Debbie Allen’s and Netflix’s “Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker”

For over 20 years, the Los Angeles based legend choreographer Debbie Allen has staged her company’s version of the classic Nutcracker, called “Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker”. Now, in the face of COVID, Netflix has produced a documentary on the classic production, taking the audience both behind and on the stage of the production.

The nonprofit Debbie Allen Dance Academy (DADA) teaches dance to over 200 local students annually, and usually their Christmastime production is their biggest fundraiser. The show is a culturally-inclusive take on a classic, and features an original script written by Allen, plus multiple actor cameos amidst the movement. 

In an interview with IndieWire, Allen said, “There was ‘The Harlem Nutcracker,’ Duke Ellington’s ‘The Chocolate Nutcracker,’ I had worked on a ‘Nutcracker’ that was totally Afrocentric, and I just felt like it was time I needed put my own spice into it.”

“It’s wonderful for audiences to see the Fairy Queen as a beautiful Black ballerina that flies onto the stage, which is something that young people will never forget. Especially young people who have never seen themselves in this particular world.”

In “Dance Dreams”, we see Allen’s famously tough-love attitude shine as her students are given rigorous and demanding material. But she delivers her lessons with a knowing smile and comforting tone. “Dealing with kids, I’m tough on them because I’m trying to get them ready for what’s out there,” she said. “A world that is not going to just love them or let them get away with things. They have to measure up. So I have high standards and that’s why the production is very professional.”

“Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker” is available now on Netflix. Watch the trailer for the film below: