Phoenix Ballet is proud to present artistic director, Slawomir Wozniak's "Holiday Spectacular, THE NUTCRACKER" this December 14-15 at the Arizona Financial Theatre in downtown Phoenix. Formerly at the Orpheum Theatre, Phoenix Ballet has been performing this beloved holiday classic for 17 years. This year, we are excited to be at the grand Arizona Financial Theatre and to celebrate being at a new theater, Slawomir Wozniak has made this production bigger and better than ever before! With a cast of talented professional dancers and student dancers from the acclaimed Master Ballet Academy, this production is festive, family-friendly and exciting. Audiences will be in awe with amazing feats that include our authentic, acrobatic Russian Dance; Dancing Mice that come to life, a Snowfall on stage and the magic of the Sugar Plum Fairy. ​​

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The Nutcracker is the tale of a young girl, Clara, who, at a Christmas party, is given a Nutcracker doll by her uncle Drosselmeyer, who is a magician. Clara falls asleep after the party and is woken by mice who have turned life sized. Clara watches as everything, including their Christmas tree, turn larger than life and even her Nutcracker doll grows life-sized and turns into a handsome prince. Clara and her Nutcracker prince are taken on a journey by dancing Angels and visit the land of Flowers with different styles and cultures with inspired dances including Spanish, Chinese, Arabian and Russian. Then, the Sugar Plum Fairy and her cavalier offer a special dance for Clara and then a group of beautiful dancing flowers ends Clara's journey.