Two families celebrate two Atlanta ‘Nutcracker’ traditions

This is the story of two families and two “Nutcrackers,” the ballet that has become an annual holiday tradition for many Atlantans.

One of Melanie Ann Harper’s earliest memories of the ballet is an Atlanta Ballet performance at the Fox Theatre when she was 5.

“I was seated between my grandmother and my brother Edward in the upper level of the theater,” Harper, 19, recalls. “My grandmother regularly told us: ‘Ballet makes the world a better place.’ I wasn’t so sure of that when giant mice appeared on stage. I jumped out of my seat and buried my face in her shawl.” During intermission, perhaps to make up for the scare, her grandmother bought Harper a ballerina doll from the souvenir kiosk. She still has it.

Sergio Masero and Airi Igarashi in Atlanta Ballet's "The Nutcracker." (Photo by Kim Kinney)

“It’s more than just a show for us,” says Harper’s mother, Melissa Mortimer, 61. “It’s the anchor of the season and our biggest holiday tradition. Last year, we gathered 18 family members and friends from Alabama, Montreal, New York and beyond for a single performance. It’s a spectacular multigenerational experience that sets the tone for the rest of the holidays.”

This year, her son Edward, 28, flew in from Metz, France, where he is doing postgraduate work through Georgia Tech. Harper is on break from the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, and more relatives from across the country are expected. The event requires months of planning, Mortimer says. Still, the day is often “a mad, chaotic rush. Someone inevitably misplaces an essential item — purse, keys, high heels, even tickets — and there’s a flurry of hairdresser appointments and a competition for our finest attire.” Mortimer’s husband, Tom Harper, 63, wears a different ballet-themed bow tie each year, she adds.

After the performance, the tradition continues with supper at the Mortimer-Harper home in Sandy Springs, ending with lemon squares, chocolate mousse and the family-favorite fruitcake from the recipe of Melissa’s late mother.

The family enjoyed former artistic director John McFall’s production for many years before choreographer Yuri Possokhov’s high-tech version premiered in 2018. “This deep artistic and nostalgic connection, now spanning three generations, makes the Atlanta Ballet’s ‘Nutcracker’ a true jewel in our family’s life,” Mortimer says.

Chayla Harris Gaines (left), Joann Harris and "Urban Nutcracker" choreographer Waverly T. Lucas II backstage at one of Ballethnic Dance Company's performances. Harris was a backstage volunteer for many years, prepping and ironing costumes. (Photo courtesy of Chayla Harris Gaines)

Chayla Harris Gaines, 48, also has happy memories of seeing an Atlanta Ballet “Nutcracker” when she was 6 and taking a children’s ballet class at Spelman College.

One of the dancers in that production was Nena Gilreath. Says Harris Gaines: “I consider myself to be of a dark to medium tone hue” and it was rare then to see someone who looked like her on stage.

Gilreath and her husband Waverly T. Lucas II soon left Atlanta Ballet and in 1990 co-founded Ballethnic Dance Company. Harris Gaines intensified her ballet studies with Gilreath and performed in the first season of the company’s “Urban Nutcracker” at Morehouse College’s MLK International Chapel. Dancing in a production that featured Black dancers and paid homage to Black family life and traditions was heartwarming, Harris Gaines says, and launched a new “Nutcracker” family tradition.

Joann Harris took her role as a Ballethnic volunteer seriously and always ensured that she was prepared in advance. Says her daughter Chayla Harris Gaines: "I miss her very much, this is a poignant reminder of a servant’s heart." (Courtesy of Chayla Harris Gaines)

A lot of work was needed to bring the young company’s productions to the stage. Which is why Harris Gaines’ late mother, Joann Harris, offered to dye the dancers’ tights from pink to brown to match their skin tones. At that time, dancewear brands sold only pale pink tights, in keeping with ballet tradition, which is steeped in a white European aesthetic.

But Ballethnic wanted to celebrate its Black and Brown dancers and make sure their tights and shoes matched their skin tones. So, for decades, Harris dyed their tights in a gumbo pot on her stovetop, Harris Gaines says proudly. (It wasn’t until the late 2010s that major brands began manufacturing tights and shoes in diverse skin tones.) Harris also donated costumes, hair accessories and props for “Urban Nutcracker.”

Soloists in Ballethnic's “Urban Nutcracker” perform the pas de deux in the snow scene. (Courtesy of Ballethnic)

Harris Gaines’ extended family attended “Urban Nutcracker” each year to see her perform and continued doing so even after she hung up her pointe shoes. She credits the discipline of ballet training with helping her earn a Ph.D. many years later.

Harris died in 2023 and Ballethnic dedicated every performance of “Urban Nutcracker” that year to her. “My son Tyler Gaines wanted to attend every single show,” Harris Gaines recalls. “That wasn’t our intent, but we ended up going to all of them.”

Tyler Gaines, 4, with Waverly T. Lucas II, choreographer of Ballethnic Dance Company's "Urban Nutcracker." Now 11, Tyler wanted to attend every performance in 2023, the year Ballethnic dedicated its full “Urban Nutcracker” run to his late grandmother. (Courtesy of Chayla Harris Gaines)

Like Melanie Ann Harper, Tyler was afraid of the mice — called rats in the Ballethnic production — when he was young. Now almost 12, he is a “super fan.” This year he, Harris Gaines, and a cousin whose daughter dances with Ballethnic will be among the family members attending.

“It’s about community,” Harris Gaines says. “When I was growing up, my mother would buy me ballerina dolls that didn’t look like me. Now we live in a different time. It’s been cathartic to carry on this family tradition. I hope my son will continue it with his children.”

YOUR GUIDE TO “NUTCRACKER” PERFORMANCES

Atlanta Ballet. Dec. 6-27. $35-$180. Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway, Atlanta. 800-982-2787, atlantaballet.com

Ballethnic Dance Company, “Urban Nutcracker.” 2 and 8 p.m. Dec. 20, 3 p.m. Dec. 21. $40-$80. Porter Sandford III Performing Arts Center, 3181 Rainbow Drive, Decatur. 404-762-1416, eventbrite.com

The Georgia Ballet. 8 p.m. Dec. 19, 2 and 8 p.m. Dec. 20, 3 p.m. Dec. 21, 2 p.m. Dec. 22 and 23. Sensory friendly show: 7 p.m. Dec. 18. $19-$64. Jennie T. Anderson Theatre, 548 S. Marietta Parkway, Marietta. 770-528-0881, georgiaballet.org.

Georgia Dance Theatre. 1 and 6 p.m. Dec. 6, 3 p.m. Dec. 7. $37.75. Sandy Creek High School, 360 Jenkins Road, Tyrone. 770-631-3128, ticketleap.events

Gwinnett Ballet Theatre. 7 p.m. Dec. 7, 13, 19, 20 and 21, 3 p.m. Dec. 13, 14, 20, 21. $32.35-$76.90. Gas South Theater, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway, Duluth. 470-639-8243, gwinnettballet.org/tickets