La danseuse étoile de Noël

This was ok. Hallmark still trying to pull in viewers by being more diverse in storyline and performers used.

Can't complain about that, but I feel the writing and storylines just aren't as strong as they used to be overall.

That comes with new staff and writers, so can't be helped.

Saw that someone said Hallmark used to show movies based on good clean fun.

What about this wasn't good clean fun?

Just because it wasn't your culture or race it was horrible?

It wasn't mine either, but that doesn't make it horrible or bad or "not good clean fun."

Overall this was an ok Holiday movie.

As always based on wishes, hard work, good people and romance.

I hope the writing and storylines get better, I can be patient.

Keep working at it Hallmark.

Don't worry so much about being PC.

Just make it about life in the world as it is today, but don't forget about the dreams and romance.

People went to Hallmark for the that and Prince Charmings. That should still be that core of your movies. Don't forget to focus on that.

Hallmark has done it again with another clean, feel-good movie. Some of you may recognize one of the female leads as Salt from Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare. In real life, the actress is half-Lebanese and half-Caucasian.

Sugar Plum Twist touches on the subject of opening up the world of ballet (and the arts in general) to performers of all racial backgrounds, and experimenting in mixture classic European music and dance with Latin salsa and modern genres. But the movie doesn't shove racial politics down your throat. It's enjoyable for viewers of all racial backgrounds.

The only big complaint I have is that, deep in the movie, I don't really get why the protagonist gets angry at her love interest for speaking up in her defense. Her reaction was uncalled for. Instead of thanking him for supporting her, she takes her frustrations out on him. That's not a good way to treat your friends, let alone your future spouse. If he had said nothing, another screenwriter would have made her berate him for not having her back.

The romance was as lame as can be but I loved the message and the character arcs. From the beginning Miss Kat the head of the ballet company was a very unsympathetic character. Cold, Rigid, harsh and snooty. Maybe a little bit bigoted. I loved the way she turned around. The actress did a superb job. We hear a little back story of why she blew up at our heroine Natalia. And when she sees that Natalia was not being disloyal with all of the hard work and professionalism , she apologizes sincerely and promotes her. And then she makes the finale perfect with her own initiative reflecting Natalia's vision and dreams. The good ending, interesting plot, beautiful dance, seldom seen Latino culture well presented rescued this one which did get a little draggy at times.

"Is Miss Kat actually smiling? It's a Christmas Miracle!"

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.

Good film with a cultural twist that doesn't seem forced or have just a token diverse character thrown in. The story was interesting and included actors not seen in many other Hallmark movies, More movies like this please!