When the Utah Art Collective performs its annual “Nutcracker Benefit Tea,” ballerinas are not the only ones keeping time.
“All of the food is choreographed,” said Ciara Steele, the head of the collective. “As the mice scurry out in the battle scene, your mouse cupcake is delivered to your table. As the Snow Queen arrives, the gelato is delivered. There’s a lot of synergy within the whole thing.”
From Thursday through Nov. 22 at Midway Town Hall, the collective will host the “Nutcracker Benefit Tea” with weekday evening performances and two matinees each Saturday. General admission tickets sold out within 24 hours of the box office opening, but business sponsor tables remain available and a final batch of tickets will go on sale Wednesday.
The one-hour, narrated “Nutcracker” is a family-friendly showcase featuring Utah Art Collective ballerinas from 5 years old to high school seniors with three adult guest artists. All proceeds benefit the Wasatch County Children’ s Justice Center.
“We wanted to do a holiday performance and have a service component,” Steele said. “We have beautiful dancers, and we wanted them to use their talents and abilities to serve and do good. We love Wasatch County students helping Wasatch County students. As I asked for volunteers, sponsors and donations, I found that anyone that has needed the CJC is just so willing because they’ve seen their amazing work with the children they’re involved with. It started off with two tea parties and now it’s 14, so the donation has gotten bigger and bigger. Last year we donated $40,000 and we’ve donated $200,000 in the last 10 years.”
The city of Midway has volunteered its Town Hall for the program since 2021 and all the food and treats are provided by local businesses including Süss Cookie Co., Hawk and Sparrow Artisan Bakery, Dandelion Gelato, The Hub, Midway Bakery and Mountainland Supply.
Not all the treats are edible.
“There’s even party poppers, so as the battle scene begins and the cannon smokes, everyone’s doing their poppers so it’s very immersive. It sounds like there’s a battle going on because there’s a battle on stage,” Steele said.
Each performer is a student enrolled in a ballet class, and the tea party is run by parent volunteers.
“Every parent has to donate four hours and very few people just give four hours,” Steele said. “They’re very passionate and care a lot about it, so they spend two weeks with us creating this magic.”
Steele and her business partner, Vibeke Bodensteiner, had been running the Wasatch Dance Center since 1998, until Bodensteiner passed away in 2023. Steele rebranded to Utah Art Collective while continuing to operate in their Heber location of 24 years.
“I felt like it needed to have a different feel because I wasn’t with my business partner anymore, but we wanted to carry on the legacy she created,” Steele said. “She was the ballet director, and she was the person that brought the ‘Nutcracker’ to our students.”
The collective enrolls 350 students between its academic performing arts preschool and dance programs. Ballet, jazz, tap, tumbling and hip-hop recreational classes are available and all come with performance opportunities at the Eccles Center in Park City. The collective also offers a competition program that culminates in a one-act ballet production each May.
Oftentimes, attending the “Nutcracker” sparks the interest of young dancers.
“We always have a lot of people that call in December and January, saying, ‘We took our family to see the ‘Nutcracker,’ and my daughter or my son was inspired by it,’” Steele said. “I think that everyone can find a part of the ‘Nutcracker’ that they can relate to or the people playing those parts look just like them. Our leading roles of Sugar Plum Fairy, Clara and Snow Queen are not guests. They are our students that started out as a mouse and went their way through and have really dedicated themselves to their ballet training.”
Steele sees the lessons taught at the collective extending beyond steps and movements.
“I think that a lot of people are under the assumption that you start a dance studio for kids to be trained to be professional dancers. A professional dance career is very, very difficult and not always the best, but you learn to be resilient. You can’t shortcut your way to being a good dancer. You have to commit. You have to be dedicated. You have to be willing to hear critique. It’s life skills that we’re teaching more than dance ability,” Steel said. “I love that everyone is working together for a common good. I think that’s really the magic of the ‘Nutcracker.’”
More information is available at utahartscollective.com