CTAC School of Ballet Presents: The Nutcracker

Celebrate the holiday season with the Crooked Tree Arts Center’s School of Ballet dancers. This dynamic and beautiful show, with original choreography, has become an annual family favorite for our Northern Michigan communities.

The Nutcracker was first performed in Saint Petersburg in 1892. The story begins on Christmas Eve at the home of the Stahlbaums. The family holds a lavish party in which young Clara receives the most wonderful gift of all – a wooden Nutcracker. Just as she is drifting off to sleep, she is startled awake, as she was certain she fell asleep with her Nutcracker. When the clock strikes midnight, the Mouse Queen and her mischievous mice frighten Clara as toy soldiers and her valiant Nutcracker come to her rescue. When the Mouse Queen attacks the Nutcracker, Clara takes off her slipper and throws it at the Mouse Queen, who is startled long enough for the Nutcracker to recover and win the battle. The battle leaves the Nutcracker injured, but Dr. Drosselmeyer fixes him once again, magically transforming him into a Prince. The Nutcracker Prince takes Clara on a journey through the Land of the Snow and to the Kingdom of the Sweets, where Clara meets and dances with the most beautiful characters she has ever met. It is all so perfect…but even the most beautiful dream must end. The next morning Clara wakes up with her wooden Nutcracker beside her. Was it all a dream?