Delight in the storybook holiday fairytale

It’s Nutcracker Time. This means the holidays are around the corner and Angelenos should consider making a stop at one of many local venues for a delightful Sugar Plum Fairy fix. Here are our top picks for watching The Nutcracker in Los Angeles:

Miami City Ballet – Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

The Music Center will bring a much beloved holiday tradition back to Los Angeles when it presents the iconic choreography of George Balanchine in an all-new world premiere production featuring a live orchestra of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® by Miami City Ballet. Performances will take place at The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion from December 7 – 10, 2017. Part of the 15th season of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center, this engagement is a Music Center co-commission that will feature the visionary designs of Cuban- American designers Isabel and Ruben Toledo, who are creating all-new sets and costumes for this production. In addition, for the first time, the performances will feature student dancers from both the Colburn School and The Gabriella Foundation’s everybody dance! program, along with live choral music from the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus.

Buy your tickets for George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker here.

Los Angeles Ballet – Dolby Theater

Los Angeles Ballet (www.losangelesballet.org), the city’s own and only professional classical ballet company, brings back the holiday favorite at LAB’s home theatres:  UCLA’s Royce Hall, Glendale’s Alex Theatre, Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center and the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.  The performances at the Dolby Theatre will include a live orchestra.

Tickets start at $33 and can be purchased here.

American Ballet Theater – Segerstrom Center

Alexei Ratmansky, the ballet’s choreographer has been described as having “made his own Christmas miracle: a joyful ‘Nutcracker’ ballet that is ravishing and clever enough to inspire multiple viewings.”

Scenery and costumes are by award-winning designer Richard Hudson and lighting is by Jennifer Tipton. Pacific Symphony performs the evocative holiday music. Select students from the American Ballet Theatre William J. Gillespie School at Segerstrom Center are afforded the opportunity to perform alongside the renowned ABT troupe in this classic tale that takes the young, romantic Clara and her Nutcracker Prince on a dreamlike journey.

Tickets can be purchased here.

Los Angeles Youth Ballet – Alex Theater

Los Angeles Youth Ballet presents the world premiere of a new production of The Nutcracker by award-winning choreographer Andrea Paris-Gutierrez starring Joffrey Ballet principal dancers Jeraldine Mendoza (Sugar Plum Fairy) and Dylan Gutierrez (Sugar Plum Fairy’s Cavalier) in three performances, Friday, December 22, 7 pm, and Saturday, December 23, 2 pm and 7 pm, at Glendale’s Alex Theatre. 

Adding to the rich compendium of this beloved holiday tradition, Paris-Gutierrez’s new youth-inspired version of the two-act ballet, featuring Tchaikovsky’s quintessential score, includes traditional influences as well as Paris-Gutierrez’s distinctive point of view as the Artistic Director of the lauded LA Youth Ballet and an experienced mentor of young dancers.  Darrion Sellman, a 13-year-old rising dance star who moved from Virginia to Los Angeles specifically to train with Paris-Gutierrez and LA Youth Ballet, is cast as the Nutcracker. 

Tickets start at $25 and are available through the Alex Theatre Box Office 818.243.2539 or visitwww.alextheatre.org.