By Renese Rivera, Holland Area Arts Council

This holiday season, the Holland Area Arts Council is reprising their partnership with Grand Rapids Ballet in two special performances for children ages 4 to 10 and their adult guests on Sunday, Nov. 18th. The gallery will be filled with the enchanting giggles of children as they experience the magic of music, dance, and storytelling. Performances will be held at 1pm and 3:30pm.

The Nutcracker Ballet Tea is a story time brunch in a winter fairy-tale land of ballerinas, nutcrackers and toy soldiers. Members of Grand Rapids Ballet Junior Company will dance vignettes from The Nutcracker as Attila Mosolygo, Junior Company Artistic Director reads The Nutcracker story. The performance includes high tea, delicious snacks and a box of treats for each child to enjoy.

Children live in a world of imagination and play. The line between reality and pretend has not yet been drawn. They involve themselves in performance physically, mentally and emotionally, and so the Arts Council is excited to expose the very young to live performance featuring other young performers.

Partnership with Grand Rapids Ballet, who provides the dancers in costume, make this event truly special.

Tickets for the Nutcracker Ballet Tea are on sale now. Admission is $35 per ticket. Children 10 and under get in for $15 each.

Tickets to Grand Rapids Ballet’s The Nutcracker Dec. 14-16 and 21-23 at DeVos Performance Hall may be purchased online at grballet.com or by calling 616.454.4771 x10.

Call the Holland Area Arts Council at (616) 396-3278, email helpdesk@hollandarts.org, visit hollandarts.org/nutcracker-ballet-tea.html or stop by 150 East 8th Street to learn more about this and other events and reserve your family’s spots! Advance reservations are required.