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The White House’s annual Christmas video, featuring an avant-garde tap dance performance of a timeless ballet, has been panned by social media critics for its “Hunger Games aesthetic,” as well as called “tacky” and “tasteless.” First lady Jill Biden on Wednesday posted a two-and-a-half minute clip of New York City tap company Dorrance Dance’s take on Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite.” The video features colorfully adorned sequined dancers wearing elaborate headdresses while they tap their way through a White House hallway festooned with candy cane columns to the Blue Room, which is decked out with Christmas trees in both white and colored lights alongside Nutcracker-inspired décor. The wild artistic statement, which the first lady said contained “magic, wonder, and joy,” left many commenters’ heads spinning, with several pining for the easier-to-digest patriotic-themed Christmas video posted in 2020 by then-first lady Melania Trum
