The beauty of ballet can be relevant to everyone. Ballet can lure you into another world. It can release your spirit allowing you to escape from the ordinary. Life should be more than simple daily routines and acquiring possessions. There is magic to be found in other experiences.

The winter holidays are the time of family traditions. Traditions that have been passed down through the generations, and traditions that are born this holiday season, become cherished life long memories. Denton County has a holiday tradition that started in 1988, the Festival Ballets production of The Nutcracker. Each December the curtain opens for The Nutcracker, with the help of The Denton Benefit League and The Greater Denton Arts Council, at the Margo Jones Auditorium on the Texas Woman’s University campus. Hugh Nini founded his school, The Denton Ballet Academy, in 1979 as a training ground for what would become The Festival Ballet of North Central Texas. “For Mr. Nini founding The Festival Ballet in 1988 was the start of a new direction, a more ambitious dream, which led to the tradition now known as The Nutcracker”, said Sue Bancroft president of The Festival Ballet’s board of directors. Now in his twentieth year as the Artistic Director of The Festival Ballet, Mr. Nini has established it as a ballet company with a reputation of excellence and consistency.

The Nutcracker is often a child’s first introduction to ballet and frequently their first experience with live theater all together. It is not unusual for The Nutcracker to play a major role in family traditions around the holidays. In this day and age of TV, video, and movies, experiencing the magic of a live performance is one of the most rewarding ways to spend an afternoon or evening with your children. Furthermore, seeing a ballet can be a stimulating and educational event for the whole family. You will see that ballet should be a part of every childhood. It is as important as reading in helping develop a child’s imagination.

Ballet is put into two main categories, repertory pieces, which are short and might or might not have a plot, and full-length, or “story ballets,” which haracteristically have a plot, scenery, costumes and characters. Whilst children can enjoy both types of ballets, the full-length piece such as The Nutcracker is almost guaranteed to captivate them.

Here are some pointers on how to groom your children for an excursion to the ballet. If you are planning to see a story ballet, talk about the show and the story prior to the performance. Consider telling it as a bedtime story a few nights before. Most story ballets, including The Nutcracker, have a book that tells the story. We had great success with reading the Nutcracker to our son and it became his favorite book.

Explain to your child that in ballet, there are no words. The storyline reveals itself through the choreography, (steps, movement, and mime), and the characters interactions.

The Nutcracker is about a young girl named Clara. She is at her family’s Christmas party where her godfather, Herr Drosselmeyer bestows her with a magical utcracker doll. Later that night, while sleeping, she dreams her house is overrun with mice, and that toy soldiers come to life to save her, and of her hero, The Nutcracker, who whisks her away through the ice and snow to the far off land of the Sugar Plum Fairy where more excitement lies ahead.

This is a wonderful opportunity to explain and instill theatre etiquette to your kids. Children may presuppose that they should conduct themselves the way they would at a sporting event or a movie theater. In a way, they can. Of course, they laugh at the funny parts and applaud whenever they see something they like. Nevertheless, they should also know that they should not talk while the curtain is up, they should remain seated during the performance and they cannot eat or drink anything in the theatre.

It is customary at a ballet performance to applaud when the leading female and male dancers first appear on stage, and when a dancer or group of dancers finishes a dance. Audience members like to applaud when a dancer does moves that are complicated, such as high jumps or a sequence of turns in a row. At the end of the show when all the dancers take their bows, everyone applauds. Be sure to tell the little ones about standing ovations. The audience will show the approval of an extraordinary performance of particularly high acclaim by rising to their feet while clapping. “Because we perform live in front of an audience we always appreciate a well mannered audience. However, when ballet works the way it is designed to there are no rules about applause. The dancers, the music, and the story itself, compel the audience to applaud. Therefore, whenever you feel like applauding is appropriate. The dancers appreciate it,” said Artistic Director Hugh Nini.

When the performance is over, talks about it encourage your children to ask questions and discuss their observations. Children love to meet the actors they just saw performing, and most actors are delighted to meet the audience and to sign autographs. Wait by the stage door to meet the cast. However, remember, they have just finished a hard job, and if you have seen a matinee, they may have to be back again in an hour, so do not keep them too long.

Yes, children can meet the performers and get their autographs after The Festival Ballets Sunday matinee. Souvenirs are available before the show, during intermission, and after the show just outside the theater doors. Both are a big event. There is always a film crew during the autograph event, which takes place outside in the lobby as people exit.

For more information about The Festival Ballet, please visit their website.