City Ballet of San Diego's Best Nutcracker

 December 21-23, 2023

California Center for the Arts
340 N. Escondido Blvd.
Escondido, CA 92025
$35-120, cityballet.org | artcenter.org

December 21, 2023, 7:30 p.m.
December 22, 2023, 2 & 7:30 p.m.
December 23, 2023,  2 & 7:30 p.m.

california nutcracker

 

Live Music by City Ballet Orchestra - Directors:  Elizabeth Wistrich and Steven Wistrich. The Nutcracker Live Music Performed by the City Ballet Orchestra John Nettles, Conductor

Music: The Nutcracker by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1892)

Music Performed By: City Ballet Orchestra & Chorus 

World Premiere: December 18, 1892 at the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, Russia

Choreographer: Elizabeth Wistrich, after Lev Ivanov, Vassily Vainonen, Rudolph Nureyev and Willam Christensen

Year Choreographed: 1995
City Ballet Premiere: 1995
Costume Design: David Heuvel
Scenery: San Diego Opera Scenic Studios
Lighting Design: Stephen Judson

City Ballet of San Diego's first performance was in 1995, and the production has become an annual holiday tradition ever since. The San Diego Dance Alliance awarded City Ballet of San Diego's production as The Best Nutcracker in San Diego.

 The San Diego Dance Alliance awarded City Ballet of San Diego's production as The Best Nutcracker in San Diego. With classical music of  Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky performed by City Ballet Orchestra under the direction of John Nettles, the talented choreographer Elizabeth Wistrich provides expertise for this production that is lauded as one of the best in California.  City Ballet of San Diego's first performance of The Nutcracker was in 1995, and the production has become an annual holiday tradition ever since.

The ballet swirls around Clara, who is given a Nutcracker for Christmas by her godfather, Herr Drosselmeyer. But this is no ordinary Nutcracker as Clara learns that very night. After a great battle with the Mouse King, the Nutcracker turns into a Prince. He takes Clara on a magic journey through the Land of the Snow to the Kingdom of the Sweets, where the Sugar Plum Fairy honors the couple with entertainment from around the world. (This is one of the simplest, easy-to-understand explanations you'll find!)

There are several ballet companies performing The Nutcracker in San Diego, but only ONE City Ballet. If you select one event, this is it!

Steven Wistrich has directed City Ballet School and Company since 1993. He began training at the Boston School of Ballet with E. Virginia Williams and was the youngest principal male dancer at that school.  His career spans the globe --Netherlands Dance Theatre, Royal Norwegian Ballet (Oslo), Stuttgart Ballet, under the direction of John Cranko, and the Grand Theatre of Geneva (Switzerland), where he was personally coached by the late George Balanchine in principal roles. Steven has served as artistic director of the Arizona Ballet Theatre and was principal dancer and artistic director of the American Festival Ballet company. He has directed the dance program at the world-famous Interlochen Arts Academy and the ballet program and company at USIU in San Diego.

Elizabeth Wistrich, co-Director of City Ballet School, is a nationally respected teacher and award-winning choreographer whose ballets have been performed throughout the U.S.

The Nutcracker presented by West Coast Ballet Theater/ San Elijo Dance & Music Academy

December 18-19, 2021, 2-4:30 p.m.

California Center for the Arts
340 N. Escondido Blvd.
Escondido, CA 92025
$27-99, cityballet.org | artcenter.org