There’s something about this time of year that makes us want to don pointe shoes and do some pliés and pirouettes to the sound of Tchaikovsky. Fortunately, there’s an event this month that invites all aspiring ballerinas and ballerinos to do just that—even if they don’t know first position from fifth.
If you go
Dance-Along Nutcracker
Noon and 3 p.m. Dec. 6
11 a.m. and 2 p.m. lessons
Free
78 E. Washington St., Chicago
The Chicago Cultural Center opens its doors to kids who want to indulge their inner Sugar Plum Fairies and Mouse Kings. Dance-Along Nutcracker is a no-experience-required, adorableness-guaranteed performance of the holiday ballet classic. Before the performance, Ballet Chicago gives a ballet bootcamp of basic positions and movements, then invites the amateur audience to join in the performance with the more trained company dancers. (Tutus are optional, but certainly up the cuteness factor.)
Have your smartphone on hand (or if you’re old school, your camera), because even if there are a few wobbles and bobbles from your diminutive dancer, you’ll want to capture what’s sure to be the most adorable moment of your holiday season.
And it just might become a family holiday tradition you’ll return to again and again—or at least until your kids are old enough to sit through a full-length production.
