I decided to take my 5-year old daughter, Maddie, to the Nutcracker. It just so happens I was a dancer in a former life and had the honor and unique pleasure to dance in the Nutcracker ballet once upon a time. It is an experience I will never forget and, to this day, influences my ability to stand on tip-toes to reach stuff on the top shelf and to sit with good posture:)

Anyhow, I got two tickets and decided we’d make it our first experience. Then, I met John Osbon and he took our experience from good to great. John is a member of the Boston Ballet board and is also active in my daughter’s school. I had won an auction prize of some ballet tickets a while back and he helped me put them to good use. He heard about my love for the ballet and how Maddie is taking lessons and loves it as well and told me he’d leave a special surprise for her at the desk.

Off we went through the sleet and snow. We were both on pins and needles wondering what the surprise would be. We arrived at the desk and waiting for us was a brown Boston Ballet bag. Inside, were two signed pairs of dancer’s shoes and two Nutcracker snowglobes. Nothing like being in tears with my daughter and the show hadn’t even started! We took our seats in the beautifully renovated Boston Opera House where Maddie promptly took off her snow boots and donned her well-used pink toe-shoes. She could not have been more excited as we waited for the lights to dim. She was riveted through the entire performance and wanted for more as the lights came up. Then came the best part.

The backstage tour. Where, although my camera battery died (when will I learn!) , I got some great shots of my girl with the sleigh and the giant Christmas tree. But all she wanted to do was go home and put on her new toe-shoes. We practiced our releve and arabesque in the living room and she wore her ballet tights to bed so she could “slip on her toe-shoes when she wakes up”. What would have been a day at the ballet was turned into an extraordinary experience for a 5-year old aspiring ballerina and her ballerina-at-heart mom.

A magical day created by an unforgettable experience. Check out the photos.

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