The Hammond Ballet Company held its annual holiday performance of “The Nutcracker” with guest artists Alicia Mae Holloway and Saverio Pescucci.

The production was held on Dec. 7-8 at 7 p.m. in the Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts.

The Hammond Ballet Company cast Annabelle Mack, a student at Albany Middle School, as Clara. Mack practiced two and a half months for this year’s production.

“The most rewarding part was knowing that I’m Clara, and I’m the star of the show, and at the end when I bowed, everyone cheered for me, and I was like, ‘Wow,'” said Mack.

Mack shared that the most difficult part of her performance was the snow scene.

“There was fake snow falling from the ceiling, and it makes it very slippery, so it’s kind of hard not to slip,” said Mack.

Some attendees made the event a family-bonding experience.

“It’s a special grandmother-granddaughter event every year,” said Paula Juneau, a Hammond resident.

According to Mack, the performance taught her to stay in character despite any problems.

“You can mess up, but you can’t show it,” said Mack. “You have to keep acting because the show must go on.”