Local performers to enact Nutcracker Ballet

Texarkana Community Ballet will present four performances of the beloved Nutcracker Ballet Dec. 6-8 at the historic Perot Theatre in downtown Texarkana.

With familiar music by Peter I. Tchaikovsky, choreography by TCB member teachers and directors, and with new costumes and scenery, the 2019 Nutcracker continues the holiday tradition of Texarkana Community Ballet presentations of classical ballet to the region.

Auditions were held in August, with 230 dancers ages 8-18 cast in the performance. TCB brings professional dancers and teachers to Texarkana to audition students and to make selections.

Dancers were cast on four levels of advancement.

The following dancers were chosen for the leading soloist roles: Chloe Carpenter as the Sugar Plum Fairy; Will Porterfield as the Nutcracker Prince and Helen Clark Hays as Clara.

Michael Skotnik will perform as Herr Drosselmeyer, the mysterious doll maker who gifts Clara with her nutcracker, setting the stage for her magical journey.

The Nutcracker is a fantasy of childhood, a young girl’s dream of magic, based on E.T.A. Hoffman’s “Nutcracker and the Mouse King.”

The girl, Clara, is thrilled with the party hosted by her parents on Christmas Eve and with the gift she receives, then finds herself transported in her dreams through battles between terrifying rats and transformed toy soldiers, through a forest filled with elegant dancing trees and snowflakes, and into a kingdom where her favorite sweets and her beloved Nutcracker perform variations and pas de deux for her pleasure.

Texarkana Community Ballet is a cooperative effort of the following dance schools: Judith McCarty School of Dancing, All Stars Dance Center, Lana LaVoice Grounds School of Dance, Tammie Duncan School of Dance, Patti Smith’s Dancing Unlimited, Joni’s Gymnastics and Dance Centre, Texarkana Dance Academy and Red Door Dance Academy.

Performances are Friday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 7 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; and Sunday, Dec. 8 at 2 p.m.