We Don't Do Nutcracker

-    Blogmas  Whatever  .  Thalia  Mara  .  Came  &  Went  .   2  Days  Until  Christmas  !   - 

I'll be honest as if it's not already obvious, but I'm NOT really that good at this Blogmas posting-everyday-business. At least I gave it a shot. The fact is, the reason why I haven't had much to report to you about my life lately is because my life really isn't that interesting when I'm on break for the holidays. Sometimes it is. Last year's holiday break made for good blog posts, but most times my days on break are just filled with lots of R&R and chilling around the house with my family. On this break so far I have enjoyed having lots of time being in the Word. I have been posting a lot of entries on my Faith Page lately if you want to check those out, but it seems like the posts you guys like reading about the most are the ones about my ballet life. If that is so, stick around then because you'll probably enjoy this post.

Once you come to terms with the fact that we are a ballet company that doesn't do The Nutcracker, the second fact you should come to terms with is that we offer a Christmas show that is just as spectacular, if not more! Yes, I may be a tad bit biased, but if you don't believe me because you've never seen any of our Christmas shows before, then you will have to catch one of them next year to formulate an opinion of your own. This year's featured Christmas production which was Light Has Come is an extraordinary show depicting the story of salvation from the unique perspective of the angels. From the first story recorded in the Bible of Adam and Eve in the garden, to Jesus Christ the Messiah appearing on the scene, this ballet of the greatest story ever told draws the audience in to experience in a fresh way the power and glory of the King of kings and the love that He has for us.  

Though this recently produced production does not encompass the same timeless traditional richness that The Nutcracker has achieved for itself over the years,  "Light Has Come" certainly has its potential, having a finesse and charisma of its own. Just one week ago Ballet Magnificat took over Thalia Mara Hall in downtown Jackson, Mississippi to perform our biggest shows of the season of "Light Has Come". It was the 50th year of performing there for our founder and Artistic Director Kathy Thibodeaux!
I did my best to document "Tech Week" leading up to the shows this past week and into the weekend to give you an insider look into all the preparation that gets put into making these shows at Thalia Mara happen! Enjoy!

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 12/11 Monday:  We had this day off to recover from the previous weekend full of performances. 

 12/12 Tuesday: We had combined rehearsal with the trainees and school of the arts.

 12/13 Wednesday: We loaded into Thalia Mara Hall. What a beautiful Theater.

 12/14 Thursday: We had combined rehearsal again 

 12/15 Friday: We had 1/2 Part dress rehearsal for both acts one and two. 

 12/16-17 Saturday and Sunday: Showtime! 2:00pm and 7:00pm Saturday, and 2:00pm Sunday  

All the shows went well. Everything ran so smoothly. We love performing at Thalia Mara Hall and can't wait to do it again next year. 

I was delighted to know that good friend, Elisa was in the audience

Alpha group picture before showtime

Loved seeing these smiling faces after the show! Just a few of my Pastor's children.

If you missed "Light Has Come" this year, it looks like you will have to catch it on tour sometime next year (Spoiler Alert!) since it looks like we will be doing our production of "Snow Queen" next Christmas season at Thalia Mara.
Hope you enjoyed this post. Am I right that you just LOVE reading about ballet? What kind of ballet things are you interested in me writing about next? Would you let me know your ideas, comments, and questions down below? I do hope you all are enjoying your holiday season! Have A Very Merry Christmas! God Bless! 🎄
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   Have You Read...  

Dancing in a Winter Wonderland!

-  A  Blogmas  Weekend  .  Mississippi  Snowfall  .  Performing  Up  A  Storm  .  - 

 The Ballet Magnificat Christmas performing season is just beginning to rev up. We've had two run-out performances this week so far. We've had one performance of "Light Has Come" in North Augusta, SC at Grace United Methodist Church on Tuesday as well as one in Gulfport, Mississippi on Thursday at Northwood Church, when then after the show driving on our way back home to Jackson, MS we had a surprise snowfall! The sight of the snow had me acting all giddy like a little child full of excitement the whole drive home. The next morning we awoke to several inches of snow still sticking to the ground and everywhere! So much snow falling in December in Jackson, MS is such a rarity. It was such a beautiful sight to see. 

This weekend Ballet Magnificat Alpha will be presenting four dances in a Christmas production being put on by a local church here in town called Crossgates. If you're local you should come out to support us! After working with the Crossgates church this evening during dress rehearsal, I can assure you that it's going to be a fabulous production featuring talented singers, an adult and children's choir, live music (which I LOVE dancing to!), as well as Joe Castillo a sand story artist. More information about the Crossgates Christmas shows can be found at the very end of this blog post so check it out! With only 10 days left before Christmas break the dance season will finish out for me this year with a small performance this coming Sunday for my own church and then lastly, but not least, the annual shows that we present at Thalia Mara Hall. I hope you are coming! 😁

This  past  week  in  snapshots :

It's the most wonderful (and busy) time of the year! schedules, schedules everywhere!

A  Day  in  Gulfport  :

• We start our day Thursday morning meeting at the vans at 7:15am. The total travel time for our trip from Jackson to Gulfport ends up being 3 hours.

We arrive at the church at 11:30am and immediately start unloading our trailers and setting up

Margot and a volunteer assembling lighting poles

These are just a few of the stage lights that get hung on the poles

Rachel and Grace work together on setting up the lights

My setup job is always setting up the merchandise table in the lobby with Hannah, but this time with Christmas Decorations! I love my set up job and my set up buddy!

We pause our setting up for a casual lunch break at 12:45pm

Pictured here is one out of our two costume boxes that gets sent to the green room

Pretty Christmas headpieces

After setting up we get our hair and makeup ready. There's Taylor!

We begin going over our steps/ reviewing/ marking on stage at 3:00pm

practicing the presentation of our stage-sized cross fabric for an opener piece called "Immanuel"

The show in North Augusta went well. Pictured here is a photo snapped during our piece called "Immanuel" 

On our way home after the show, we drove through the night. Since I am a night owl, during the night shifts I love sitting shotgun to help the driver stay awake. I snap this precious selfie to capture the excitement of Margot and I as we discover snow beginning to fall some point past midnight.

Driving through snow looks so cool!

We arrived back to home base at 1:49am. What a day.

The next day I wake up to this outside my window!

A winter wonderland!

A  Few  Performance  Pics  From  North  Augusta   :

If you've never seen Ballet Magnificat perform, you need to! It's an experience like no other. Keep your eye on our booking calendar for when we come to a city near you!

Dress Rehearsal at Crossgates  :

Group selfie at Crossgates

Warming up back stage

A snapshot during rehearsal

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Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today! If you enjoyed this post please comment, follow, subscribe, and don't be shy! Have a great weekend!
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   Have You Read...  

We Will Go In Jackson

This past Thursday Ballet Magnificat Alpha had the marvelous opportunity of performing 'The Arrival' downtown working with We Will Go Ministries to make it possible. I can't speak more highly of We Will Go Ministries and of how much I love them! These missionaries are doing awesome things for God's kingdom and they don't have to go far to do it, but instead, they start right here in Jackson reaching out and loving on their neighbors, an almost foreign concept in this day and age. It was so special partnering with these like-minded people and I hope we get to do it more often. Upon arriving on the scene I could hardly contain my excitement at the idea of dancing for a different kind of audience for a change. We would be dancing in a gym with no fancy lighting or effects. Just worshiping. This is the kind of gig that the trainees would usually be given, but I'm so glad we took care of this one for them. I had almost forgotten until now just how much I enjoyed these kinds of performances from when I was a trainee! We had a blast! It was such a sweet way to finish the semester. 

I've got the rolls of tape!

Margot has the Tams.

Tambourines to spare and one evening refreshment for our Tour Director

She's a happy camper!

Preparing the costumes

Preparing the floor

Margot prepares what she is going to share with the audience after the performance

Working on the sound 

Beautiful Emma.

One tutu remains, waiting to be put on

Excited and ready to go!

It's showtime!

Teaching our new friends ballet

"It's easy..."

Amy Lancaster of We Will Go encouraging us

Leaving feeling blessed.

Check out the exclusive video clips below!



that's all folks! Do you have any questions you'd like to ask me? What other topic are you interested in reading about?  Thanks for stopping by! comment, follow, subscribe and don't be shy!

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