By Lisa Carolin
Next month, Ballet Chelsea and the Jackson Symphony Orchestra will team up to present Ballet Chelsea’s 21st annual performance of The Nutcracker on Dec. 1-2 at the Chelsea High School Performing Arts Complex and on Dec. 8-9 at the Potter Center in Jackson.
Among the attendees will be Debbie and Taylor Gonzalez, who will be seeing The Nutcracker for their 33rd consecutive year. This will be the first time The Nutcracker aficionados will see a Chelsea performance, and they’re very much looking forward to it.
Debbie, and husband John, reside in Saline, and their daughter Taylor lives in Denver, Colorado. She attended her first performance of The Nutcracker at the age of 3.
It all began with a tea in Little Rock, Arkansas. Debbie Gonzalez was invited to be a guest and had the chance to see dancers from The Nutcracker perform.
“Since they had such a wonderful time at the event, Deb decided to get tickets for the show,” said John Gonzalez. “From there a tradition was born.”
The family enjoys comparing the various artistic interpretations of each performance as well as the different types of costumes and stage settings.
“Though the music and the story lines are basically similar, the ballet itself is very different,” said Debbie Gonzalez.
Some of their favorite performances include those in Houston and Denver where they say the dancers were the most professional, and in San Diego, where they especially enjoyed the costumes.
“They wore old-fashioned Russian style costumes with muted tones and gold brocade,” said Debbie Gonzalez.
Their least favorite Nutcracker performance occurred in Los Angeles where they said the dancing was off and there was no orchestra.
Does seeing the holiday classic ballet year after year ever get old?
“No, it never gets old,” said Debbie Gonzalez. “I suppose this is because we’ve seen it in so many different venues over the years, and our lives have changed throughout the years, too. The Nutcracker remains to be special to both of us.”
What do Taylor and Debbie most look forward to?
“Actually, the best part of our tradition is just simply being together,” said Debbie Gonzalez. “It’s something we look forward to each and every year.”
Tickets for the performance can be purchased here.
