'The Nutcracker' ballet this weekend in Cd'A

Ballet Coeur d’Alene will bring a holiday tradition to the North Idaho College stage this weekend with a performance of "The Nutcracker."

The ballet will feature all local dancers.

“Excellent dancing is the beginning, but it’s only the medium with which to draw the heart of each audience member into a mystery of dreams and feelings of the Christmas season,” Brooke Nicholson, the school's artistic director, said in a press release.

The tale starts with a lavish party attended by several families and Drosselmeyer, a strange magical relative, played here by Jadd Davis, artistic director of Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre. Drosselmeyer entertains the children with gifts and a special nutcracker for Clara, danced by Elliana Kirk, Youth America Grand Prix top 12 winner and repeated merit winner at MusicFest Northwest.

After the party, Clara goes to sleep — and dreams of mice, soldiers, candies and angels carry her to a land of sweets where the Sugar Plum Fairy will be danced by Youth America Grand Prix multiple winner and international Prix de Lausanne competitor, Chelsea Thronson.

Conceived in legends of Czarist Russia and set to the timeless music of Peter Tchaikovsky, the work was first produced in the U.S. during the height of World War II and brought to the hearts of the American public in excerpts broadcast on a television show hosted by a young actor named Ronald Reagan in 1954. The strength of its place in American tradition is demonstrated by the fact that 40 percent of all income for all ballet companies across the country every year comes from "Nutcracker" ticket sales near Christmas.

Longtime resident Mike Bullard and his wife, Betsy, will be doing the “grandfather’s dance” in the show.

“I’ve appreciated other performances, but the reason this one melts my heart is that this is a celebration of our own community, featuring local youth we can watch from year to year as they develop and become role models who inspire their younger peers,” Bullard said in the release.

To reach out even more to children in the audience, a Candy Kingdom will take place on stage immediately following the performance. Tickets on sale at the boutique counter in the lobby of NIC’s Schuler Performing Arts Center will allow young people to come on stage at the close of that performance, to sit on the Kingdom of Sweets Throne or in the Magical Sleigh, or to get autographs and have their picture taken with Clara and the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Performances will be Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. in NIC’s Schuler Performing Arts Center. Show tickets are $12-$15 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under. They can be purchased at balletcda.com or by phoning (855) 222-2849. Run time is 75 minutes, with a 20 minute intermission. Tickets for the Candy Kingdom must be purchased at each particular performance.