Segerstrom Center for the Arts announces the return of its popular tradition - American Ballet
Theatre’s captivating production of The Nutcracker. Co-presented by the Center and ABT with
choreography by Alexei Ratmansky, The Nutcracker is the beloved holiday story based on The
Nutcracker and the King of Mice written by E.T.A. Hoffmann and set to a magical score by Peter
Ilyich Tchaikovsky performed by the Pacific Symphony.
In its annual holiday engagement, the American Ballet Theatre will give 13 performances from
December 12 through December 22, 2024, in Segerstrom Hall. This year marks the 9th time
that The Center has presented ABT’s The Nutcracker, Southern California’s grandest production
of this beloved holiday tradition. This Nutcracker features ABT’s international all-star cast and
marks the second year of the production under new ABT Artistic Director Susan Jaffe,
appointed in 2022.
The scenery and costumes for The Nutcracker are by Tony Award® winning designer Richard
Hudson (Disney’s The Lion King). Lighting for the production is by Tony Award® winner Jennifer
Tipton.
Nutcracker is the perfect way to introduce children to dance and inspire them to study dance and become a little Clara or Nutcracker Prince.
Once again, American Ballet Theatre will cast students from the William J. Gillespie School at
Segerstrom Center for the Arts to perform alongside these world-renowned dancers, offering
aspiring professionals with unparalleled performing experience. The ABT Gillespie Ballet School
offers unrivaled training, performing opportunities, Master Classes, lectures by visiting artists,
and the highest quality of classical ballet training through the American Ballet Theatre National
Training Curriculum. Forty students are featured annually in ABT’s production of The
Nutcracker; and have performed alongside ABT dancers in the World Premiere productions of
The Sleeping Beauty (2015), Whipped Cream (2017), and the West Coast premiere of ABT’s
Harlequinade (2019). https://www.scfta.org/
The Los Angeles Times said, “Choreographer Alexei Ratmansky has made his own Christmas
Miracle: a joyful “Nutcracker” ballet that is ravishing and clever.