Ballet Chelsea will be performing excerpts of the Nutcracker. Courtesy | Facebook

Friends of the Dawn Theater will be hosting Ballet Chelsea for a performance of excerpts of the Nutcracker at 3 p.m. on Nov. 12 at the Dawn Theater, sponsored by the Hillsdale County Community Foundation 

“Ballet Chelsea does a full performance of the Nutcracker in Jackson with the Jackson Symphony Orchestra in December, but we wanted to bring it to Hillsdale,” said Mary Wolfram, member of Dawn Theater Governance Board.

The production is sponsored by the Hillsdale County Community Foundation.

Thanks to the Hillsdale County Community Foundation, no tickets are required for the performance.

“A friend of the Dawn approached the Hillsdale County Community Foundation and they gave us a grant to fund this performance, so we are able to present it free of charge,” Wolfram said. “We are really appreciative of the Foundation for supporting this performance,” she said.

This weekend’s performance will be a glimpse into the full ballet, which will take place in Jackson in December.

“Ballet Chelsea does outreach performances all the time, so we worked with their programs committee to bring them to Hillsdale. They also have other outreach commitments, so we had to settle on Nov. 12, which is a bit early,” Wolfram said.

The ballet This weekend’s performance will be the first of its kind since the Dawn’s renovations in 2022.

“This performance will give Hilldale audiences a unique opportunity to experience a taste of a world-class performance – of a fully-produced performance of the Nutcracker with a live orchestra, which is so rare this day in age,” Holly Hobbs, assistant professor of dance and director of Hillsdale’s Tower Dancers, said. 

Wolfram said she hopes that this is the start of bigger productions happening at the Dawn.

“Hopefully this will be the first of many cultural performances to come at the Dawn,” she said

Doors will open at 2:30 p.m. with the performance starting at 3.

“This performance will be an early start of the Christmas season,” Wolfram said. “It’s a good preview for Hillsdale audiences in case they want to go to the full performance in Jackson in December.”