The Nutcracker

Today Craig and I took the girls to see The Nutcracker at our city's performing arts center.  The event was sensory-friendly and, therefore, perfect for our little Emilia.  Plus, Ella studied The Nutcracker in her music class at school this month and showed great interest in it.

After running into several old friends in the lobby, I was moved to tears when I sat down among an audience of so many special people and families.  We were surrounded by kids with noise-canceling headphones and face masks, kids navigating their way with blind canes, children and adults in wheelchairs, people holding fidgets and wearing hearing aids.  It warmed my heart to see many elderly folks with developmental special needs attending this event, too.

During the performance, people cheered and clapped, whistled and commented, danced and jumped.  It was lovely to behold the joy and the wonder in so many eyes, including those of my own daughter who pirouetted and otherwise moved her way through a performance that mesmerized her.  She animatedly expressed her observations and thoughts ("Bye-bye, chicken.  I want chicken") and during intermission emphatically and repeatedly declared, "Ballerina right back.  Hurry up, ballerina."

We are so thankful to the Cincinnati Ballet and its partners and donors for providing our children with the opportunity to experience music, dance and visual arts in a welcoming and supportive environment.  This was the first of its kind performance for our ballet and I hope that there will be many more.

P.S. The girls chose their own outfits yesterday and once I saw their selections, I decided to make their ensembles complete with sparkles in their hair and a dab of perfume on their wrists.