Enraptured ballerinas-to-be, along with their adult handlers, will flock to Silva Concert Hall at the Hult Center starting Dec. 17 for the seven-performance run of Eugene Ballet: The Nutcracker. They will see Clara, the lovely Sugarplum Fairy and her handsome partner Cavalier, The Nutcracker and The Mouse King as well as Uncle Drosselmeyer. All are time-honored characters from the ballet first produced (to mixed reviews) in 1892 with score from Pyotr Tchaikovsky, and it’s loosely based on a darker tale — The Nutcracker and The Mouse King — by Prussian author E.T.A. Hoffman in 1816. This will be Eugene Ballet’s first production of The Nutcracker since 2019 because of that pandemic you may have heard about, and the company is adding three performances, three more opportunities for the child dancers as a reward for enduring the past two years, all supported by Orchestra Next.    

Eugene Ballet: The Nutcracker begins its run at 7:30 pm Friday, Dec. 17 at Hult Center. It continues with two performances on Dec. 18 (2 pm and 7:30 pm) and a 2 pm matinee on Dec. 19. The final three productions will be at 7:30 pm, Dec. 21 through Dec. 23. Tickets are at HultCenter.org. $25-60.

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