Tickets on sale Saturday, October 12 @ 10am
Three performances only:
7440 Six Forks Rd. | Raleigh, NC 27615 · (919) 844-9799 · Email Us
The Nutcracker
A family holiday tradition for more than 30 years!
COME SEE THE NUTCRACKER BALLET IN RALEIGH!
For more than 30 years, City Ballet Raleigh has been presenting Tchaikovsky's 'The Nutcracker', our much-anticipated hallmark of the holiday season. We perform a full length, richly costumed and staged version of the ballet, featuring professional guest artists in principal roles. City Ballet Raleigh's 'The Nutcracker' promises to be a truly exciting production, one able to conjure up the magic of the season for young and old alike. Who knows, it may even start a new holiday tradition for your family.
Tickets available only through NCSU’s online box office
Please contact info@city-ballet.com with questions or if you require special accommodation for seating
About “The Nutcracker”
The treasured story begins on Christmas Eve in Victorian Germany, as Clara celebrates the holiday with her family and friends. Her magician Godfather entertains the festive gathering with life-size dancing dolls, and presents Clara with a magical nutcracker that, late that night, comes to her rescue in a battle with the Mouse Queen and her mice minions. When the mice are defeated Godfather Drosselmeier reappears and transforms the Nutcracker into a handsome prince. Together, the Nutcracker Prince and Clara travel through through the snowy pine forest and the starry night to the beautiful Kingdom of Sweets, where they are greeted by the Sugar Plum Fairy. Surrounded by colorful confections, including ribbon candy, gingerbread cookies and candy canes, the Sugar Plum Fairy rewards Clara for her bravery against the Mice with a celebration. Beautiful dancers, who represent many kinds of sweets and people, dance in her honor. These dance variations include Polichinelles that somersault out from underneath Mother Ginger’s skirt, Hot Chocolate from Spain, Marzipan from France, Coffee from Arabia, Tea from China, Russian Trepak and Icing Flowers. And before the night is over, the Sugar Plum Fairy dances a beautiful Pas De Deux with her Cavalier. Come watch the magic as the Christmas tree grows 20 feet tall, the toy soldiers come to life to battle the evil mice, and the Snow Queen and her Snowflakes dance amid falling snow. Lavishly staged, City Ballet Raleigh’s cast of professional dancers and selected students offers a must-see Nutcracker production this Holiday Season.
GUEST ARTISTS
City Ballet Raleigh is privileged to have the following guest artists this year:
Sara Roe
Sugar Plum Fairy
Sara Roe began training at Cary Ballet Conservatory (CBC) at age 6 where she studied ballet, jazz, and modern, and went on to join the Professional Training Program under the direction of Mariaelena Ruiz. In the summer of 2016, Sara attended Carolina Ballet summer intensive as a summer trainee and was invited by Robert Weiss to join the company as a Student Artist. She was promoted to Trainee in 2017 and Corps de Ballet in 2018. During her time at Carolina Ballet, Sara performed in a variety of works by Robert Weiss, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Zalman Raffael, George Balanchine, and Jerome Robbins. Some of her featured roles included Coffee in The Nutcracker, Tall Girl in Fancy Free, Alice in Picnic on the Grass, and a Princess in Swan Lake. She also had a leading role in an original work created by Robert Weiss in his ballet Dialogues that was performed at American Dance Festival's 50th Anniversary Opening Night. Sara holds a B.S. in Business Administration with concentrations in Marketing and Business Analytics from NC State University.
Sam Ainley
Cavalier
Sam Ainley-Zoll, born in Sacramento, California began training at The School of Sacramento Ballet at age ten under the direction of Melanie Haller, followed by Crockett-Deane Ballet under the direction of Barbara Crockett. Ainley joined the School of American Ballet on full scholarship in 2013, with mentorship from Jock Soto. At age 17 he accepted a position with Boston Ballet as a member of their second company under the directorship of Peter Stark. In 2017, he accepted a contract with the Carolina Ballet under Robert Weiss and Zalman Raffael. Under the leadership of Zalman Raffael, he was promoted to Soloist in 2019 and then Principle dancer in 2021. Ainley danced with the Carolina Ballet for six seasons before attending NC State where he will graduate this May with a B.S. in Human Biology.
