Hundreds Flock to the Fisher Center for a Blockbuster Nutcracker Tea

Nashville Ballet’s Nutcracker Tea was a riotous Christmas sugarplum in mauves and pinks, from the towers of purple balloon soldiers to the scalloped pink napkins, trimmed in gold. The Fisher Center for the Performing Arts hosted the annual event for all ages, and many fashionable little ballerinas donned pink shoes and tutus alongside others in their Nutcracker Sunday best. Boys sported Christmas plaid shirts and chinos, and girls were demure in dresses smocked with reindeer, wreaths and Christmas trees. Lauren Pitts Shanley and daughter Daphne stood tall in fun mother-daughter Chelsea boots.

Three lovely co-chairs — Leigh Adams, Crystal Churchwell Evans and Julie Galbierz — must have had a ball planning each delightful detail. Everything was perfect, and the crowd was bigger than ever, approaching 900 before the mini-performances began on the half-hour. Performed by NB2, Nashville Ballet’s second company, in the Braid Paisley & Kimberly Williams-Paisley Ballroom, each lasted a tantalizing 10 to 15 minutes, and every child left with an idea of the story and a dream of dancing. 

The patrons hour was packed with activities: photos with lithe sugarplum fairies, face painting, tiara and pointe shoe decorating, sparkle strands of fairy hair, and teatime snacks. Delectables included petites quiches, crisp grilled cheese brioches, pigs in a blanket, multicolored macarons and divine dark-chocolate brownies, all consumed with sips of hot chocolate — or libations like Champagne for the adult attendees, every bit as delighted with the event as the little ones, down to wide-eyed babes in arms.

A mystical combination of the sun fading in the afternoon, the cut-glass windows and violet uplights gave a sparkle to the emptying lobby as the sun moved west, leaving, as in Clara’s dream, visions of mice battling soldiers and the sugar-dusted lips of dreamers, echoing a sweet afternoon.