Nutcracker Snowglobe Experience Returns to Inspire Joy and Hope

A Pivot and a Pop Up

When COVID-19 caused much of the world to shut down in 2020, holiday magic seemed to disappear with it. For dance instructor and studio owner Alexes “Lexe” Hudson, whose Lessons by Lexe Dance Studio traditionally filled December with parades, senior-home visits and community performances, the sudden silence felt devastating.

“Our studio is very community based,” she said. “I learned long ago that if you pour into your community, your community will pour into you.” She says seeing every performance get canceled during the 2020 holiday season was a huge blow to the dancers and the instructors.

But giving in to disappointment is not Hudson’s style. Instead, she invented something new: “I thought, ‘How cool would it be to ‘snowglobe’ our dancers?’” she said. Thus, the Nutcracker Snowglobe Experience quickly came together – a walk-through retelling of the classic holiday ballet, performed safely behind the studio’s frosted windows, with music piped outdoors as viewers strolled by in the night, socially distanced in the cool Prescott air.

“In 2020, the dancers had already learned their Nutcracker roles, as they were prepared to perform on the studio’s Christmas Parade float,” she said. “We quickly transformed the studio with backdrops and beautifully decorated windows, and our patrons could walk around outside, staying safe, peering into the ‘snowglobes’ and feeling the joy of the holidays.”

A Prescott Holiday Tradition was Born 

What began as a pop-up performance has become one of Prescott’s favorite holiday traditions. The cast has grown to 41 dancers this year, the largest group yet, and many have performed the studio’s Nutcracker Snowglobe Experience in the past.

The 15-minute guided walk takes small groups around the exterior of the studio. Inside, dancers portray characters of the classic holiday tale including Clara, the Nutcracker, the Sugar Plum Fairy, the Rat King, toy soldiers, the Snow Queen, Arabian dancers, Chinese dancers and more.

A volunteer storyteller leads each group, weaving the narrative in and out of seven scenes about a young girl who receives a nutcracker doll as a Christmas gift, which gets broken but comes to life in her dream and takes her on a magical journey.

“Our performances condense ‘The Nutcracker’ from a three-hour show to 15 minutes and set the tone for the holidays,” Hudson said. “When we invented this idea, there was a lot of need for joy and hope in our country and our world. We wanted to give people something beautiful, something bigger, that would last beyond the performance.”

Back by Popular Demand

The community response was immediate and overwhelming. “We weren’t expecting to do it past the pandemic, but people kept asking, ‘Are you bringing it back next year?’” she said. “It’s really cool to see this small idea to keep the dancers performing through the holidays turn into so much more.”

The event is now a fundraiser for the studio’s company team, helping dancers pay competition fees and access more performance opportunities. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children, ages 13 and younger, and are available at the door. Groups of about 10 to 15 guests are guided through in staggered intervals, with as many as 25 groups moving through in a single evening.

Spreading the Meaning Beyond the Snowglobe

Although it has grown in size and popularity through the years, the event, now the 6th Annual Nutcracker Snowglobe Experience, continues to mirror the same love of community and desire to spread joy that inspired the first event.

For Hudson, the heart of the tradition is the transformation in her performers. “The most rewarding part is the growth I see in the dancers – as human beings,” she said. “Once they’ve inspired that impact of joy and hope, they understand the bigger meaning behind what we’re doing. It is so much more than a fundraiser. How it came about is the why.”

Hudson is now working to trademark the concept so other studios can bring the Nutcracker Snowglobe Experience to their communities. “People love it!” FBN

By Bonnie Stevens, FBN

Lessons by Lexe Dance Studio is located at 3250 Gateway Blvd., Suite 106, in the Pine Ridge Marketplace.

Courtesy Photo: Dancers of all ages portray characters of the classic holiday tale including Clara, the Nutcracker, the Sugar Plum Fairy and more, as guests peer in through frosted windows, which create a magical snowglobe effect.