The Nutcracker Ballet is Coming to Altus in December

When you hear the words, 'The Nutcracker', you immediately think of Christmas! And, actual nutcrackers, which people collect, especially at Christmas!

Western Oklahoma State College and Friends of WOSC Performing Arts along with Leah Wall from Off the Wall Dance Productions will be presenting The Nutcracker Ballet, Friday, December 10th at 7 PM and Sunday, December 12th at 2 PM.

The Nutcracker Ballet has been performed thousands upon thousands of times with the earliest performances dating back as far as the 1800's.

The Nutcracker is a classical ballet in two acts. It is based on E.T.A. Hoffmann's 1816 fairy taleThe Nutcracker and the Mouse King. It tells the story of a little girl who goes to the Land of Sweets on Christmas Eve. Ivan Vsevolozhsky and Marius Petipa adapted Hoffmann's story for the ballet. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote the music. Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov designed the dances. The Nutcracker was first performed at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, on 18 December 1892 to a modest success and rarely seen the next years. [wikipedia]

Walt Disney may have helped the success of this ballet as he used part of the music for his film Fantasia.

There will be a meet and greet reception on Saturday, December 11th from 11 AM - 1 PM. Everyone is invited to come to take photos with and meet the cast members while enjoying refreshments.

Tickets are $10 and will be available for purchase online at wosc.edu/artfriends, on campus at the Business office or by calling 580-477-7706

Here's Disney's take of the Nutcracker Suite part 1 in his classic Fantasia: