Coupeville Sports

Kelsi Lampe (left) and Skyylynn Lippo. (Joe Lippo photos)

Lippo and Sylvia Hurlburt.

Contributed by Joe Lippo.

There was a war on, between mice and man.

Soldiers brandished their rifles at the vermin that had overrun the mansion, and did their best to follow the orders of their red-coated officers.

The general was actually a giant nutcracker come to life.

An equally life-sized doll pranced through the scene and a wizard cast spells left and right. A bear roughed up the butler, and elves back hand sprung across the forest scene.

The smoke and fog of war obscured the scene at times, and at other times snowflakes drifted down.

It was pure pandemonium, and the audience was absolutely riveted.

Wait, what? Since when are there audiences at a battle?

When it’s the Whidbey Island Dance Theater production of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, that’s when.

When North Whidbey, Coupeville and South Whidbey dancers come together to show the Island a little class.

Tonight was the last show out of a demanding two-week, ten-show schedule, but you wouldn’t know it by the high energy level of the dancers.

Unfortunately, not everyone made it through all ten events, but only a very few fell to injury, the understudies filled in without a hitch, and the show most definitely went on.

This was the final show, and a sellout.

The concessions were mobbed and the halls of South Whidbey High School were packed with people there to see the only major ballet production on Whidbey Island.

With over 80 cast members and six choreographers, they all have to plan ahead and make everything mesh, and it has to mesh perfectly 10 times in two weeks.

The audience doesn’t get to see the first two, which are full-speed dress rehearsals.

The choreographers know that this is the last chance to get it right before they go live, and they sound more like hockey coaches than ballet teachers.

“STOP!!” yells one … then she singles out a couple dancers and follows up with a very Herb Brooks-like “AGAIN!!”

In any case, this is ultimately a Coupeville blog, so I know you all can’t wait to hear about the only two Coupeville students to make the cut: CHS sophomore Sylvia Hurlburt and CMS 8th grader Skyylynn Lippo.

Hulburt performed wonderfully as a Cousin and a Rat, adding boundless energy to the crowded and very precise battle scene, while Lippo was also a Cousin and performed in the Flower scene.

Skyylynn also had to step up and replace an injured dancer in the technically grueling Snow Scene, and was up to the task, performing the part in the last three shows.

In the end, everyone involved was exhausted, and all the dancers wanted to do was sleep, and recover from two weeks of Gatorade, tape, carb loading, and Motrin.

Lots and lots of Motrin.

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