The Nutcracker Ball by Kate Stanforth

Christmas Preparations

How do you prepare for Christmas?  I love that everyone has different traditions, some more unusual than others, but each builds up the excitement for that special day.  Being a dancer, I remember ever since childhood watching ballet as part of my Christmas routine, particularly The Nutcracker.  That’s why I wanted to bring some of that magic to my dancers this year.

Christmas With A Chronic Illness

I’ve spent many years unable to participate in Christmas because of my health.  When I launched my dance academy in March, my goal was always to reform some of the negative experiences I’ve had (and others are having) as a chronically ill person, so building a community became a vital role in that.  Many people with chronic illnesses feel lonely at Christmas and using my dance skills, I wanted to help change that. So I launched The Nutcracker Ball.

The Nutcracker Ball

The Nutcracker Ball is an interactive Christmas box containing; a gingerbread house making kit for our baking session, a Nutcracker craft kit for our craft session, a Nutcracker picture for our dance session, a cracker for our party and quiz and a card or present for Christmas.

There were four sessions in total over Zoom, spread out over two weeks.  My favourite session had to be the dancing because we learned a dance to the Sugar Plum Fairy music.  I adapted the choreography so we had people dancing from their beds to their wheelchairs – it really was just magical.  I think the funniest session was the gingerbread house as it ended up being a really difficult kit with very little success!  However, we all danced, crafted, baked and partied our hearts out and it was really special having everyone together to celebrate Christmas.  It was important to be able to have people with different conditions, abilities and even people from different parts of the world join in and celebrate together – we had such a good time!

Christmas Wishes

This Christmas, again, isn’t quite ‘normal’ but one thing chronic illness has taught me is how to adapt.  It may not be as I planned, it may not be as I’d like, but I try to appreciate every moment.  So I hope this Christmas you can take something from the chronic illness community and adapt with us but still celebrate with us and have a happy and safe festive period.