This ballet is a longtime holiday tradition in Columbia – and it’s not ‘Nutcracker’

If you want to see a non-“Nutcracker” Christmas ballet, here’s the opportunity to add to your holiday traditions.

Dancers with Celestial Stars Performing Arts will twice perform “The Christmas Angel” – which as written and produced by local artistic director Gabrielle Celeste – at Harbison Theatre at Midlands Technical College.

The ballet is a magical story of a princess whose soul is devoured by jealousy. Through the pure love of the Christmas Angel, she is forgiven and redeemed.

Fifty-three Celestial Stars dancers, ranging in age from 4 to 50, will perform this play, which has been a part of Columbia’s holiday repertoire for 17 years.

Besides the obvious reason that the ballet is special to Celeste, it’s how she met her husband, Gene, who now helps yearly with building sets, props, costumes, and coaching.

“He actually brought a date to ‘The Christmas Angel’ in 2006,” Celeste said. “I was dancing the role of the Goblin Queen and he was one of those audience members that was enraptured and wanted to be a part of it and has been ever since.”

Celeste shares a bit about “The Christmas Angel”:

Q: What led you to write this ballet?

A: I wrote “The Christmas Angel” because our city is inundated with “The Nutcracker,” and I thought we needed something equally good but original and fresh. It only took a few months for the original story to come together, though it is never finished. It grows and evolves every year, mainly according to the cast. That is the beauty about writing my own ballet: I can change it as need be, which also makes it exciting for the audience. I have been choreographing ballets since age 9, and at age 16, bringing my stories to life was a natural extension of having my own studio and company. The story was inspired by many things: Cirque du Soleil, movies like “Legend,” “The Labyrinth,” “Fantasia,” and books like “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.”

Q: This is the 17th year of performances. What makes this ballet so enduring?

A: This ballet is enduring because when people see it, they realize it is more then just a ballet. The story has purpose and meaning that many find inspiring and touches them in a way emotionally that they were not expecting. It is never easy producing a full-scale ballet; nevertheless, it is always worth it. “The Christmas Angel” is part of my life and I can’t imagine it not being brought to the stage every year.

Q: Why would people enjoy coming to see this performance and making it part of their Christmas tradition?

A: “The Christmas Angel” is not your typical ballet. I have had so many people who attended having a preconceived notion of what ballet is supposed to be, and they wound up in tears because the story and production touched them so. Our dancers don’t just work on having good technique; dance can be so much more than that. We are teaching our students to be the best version of themselves, to tell a story that is genuinely from their hearts so that we may connect with our audience on a deeply profound level.

This story was originally published December 15, 2017 at 3:21 PM with the headline "This ballet is a longtime holiday tradition in Columbia – and it’s not ‘Nutcracker’."