What’s Right With Our Schools: Chattanooga Ballet Nutcracker

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – A heartwarming holiday tradition recently wrapped up. The Chattanooga Ballet and hundreds of local school children put on a first-rate production of The Nutcracker. Let’s pull back the curtain on a timeless example of what’s right with our schools.

Brian McSween is the CEO and Artistic Director at Chattanooga Ballet.

He says,” Each year here at the Memorial Auditorium. That involves our professional dancers and 250 local kids performing together for four public shows and three student school shows that are provided for through the Arts Build Imagine Program.”

James McKissic is the President of Arts Build.

He says, “This is something that we’ve been involved with for over ten years, and thanks to our donors, we’re able to continue the program and hopefully grow it into the future.

McKissic continues, “Well, I want them to remember, like, I remember the first time when I saw the Nutcracker as a child, how magical it is, how inspiring, and how it really draws us into that holiday spirit.”

Addison Porter is at 7th grader at Singal Moutain.

She says, “I’ve been dancing since 2018. It’s a lot of time commitment, but it’s really, really fun. I think it’s a really great opportunity to get to know a lot of people, and it’s just really fun. Yeah.”

Kelly Shimmel is the Fine Arts Coordinator for HCDE.

Kelly says, “It is so important for our students to have access to not only theater and watching live theater, but also the ability to perform because it builds empathy in all of our students. Whether you are an audience member or participating.”

Brian McSween explains, “It’s our level two and above students that are in the performance they audition each year and are placed. Many of our advanced students have been doing this performance for ten years, and Nutcracker is such a great entree into the world of ballet.”

Stella Haugland is a 4th grader at Battle Academy.

She says,” I love being in the Nutcracker, and it’s so much fun because it’s like just going to your first ballet class, you feel scared, but then you learn a lot of stuff and you feel more happy.”

Kelly Shimmel concludes, “The feeling of being on stage is one that’s really hard to replicate anywhere else. It’s sort of this magic moment that happens between the performers and the audience. And my favorite part is that second when the performance is done and there’s silence and then the applause.”