The UGA Performing Arts Center will present the State Ballet Theatre of Russia in The Nutcracker Dec. 20 at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 21 at 3 p.m. in the Classic Center Theatre. The Nutcracker is a special collaboration between the UGA Performing Arts Center and the Classic Center.
Tickets for The Nutcracker are $25-$35 for adults and $15 for children ages 12 and younger. Tickets can be purchased at the UGA Performing Arts Center box office, online at pac.uga.edu or by calling 706-542-4400. They also can be purchased at the Classic Center box office, online at www.ClassicCenter.com or by calling 706-357-4444.
After the success of his ballet The Sleeping Beauty, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was commissioned by the director of Russia’s Imperial Theatre to compose the score for The Nutcracker, using a libretto adapted from E.T.A. Hoffman’s The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. The ballet premiered Dec. 18, 1892, at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg.
The score, which includes “Waltz of the Flowers,” “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” and “Waltz of the Snowflakes,” is considered one of Tchaikovsky’s most melodic. The Nutcracker has now become one of the most widely performed ballets throughout the world.
With a company of 50 dancers, the State Ballet Theatre’s production of The Nutcracker features elaborate sets and costumes, along with the same authentic Russian choreography that is performed by Moscow’s famed Bolshoi Ballet.
