Nutcracker at UPAC
The Catskill Ballet Theatre will present its 35th annual Nutcracker ballet at the newly renovated Ulster Performing Arts Center (UPAC) with performances featuring guest artists from major companies, including the Dance Theatre of Harlem. The shows will take place on Friday and Saturday, December 8 and 9 at 7:30 p.m. each night. Tickets cost $30 for adults, $25 for seniors and kids.
The Ulster Performing Arts Center is located at 601 Broadway in Kingston. For information, call (845) 473-2072 or visit www.bardavon.org/upcoming-shows.
Nutcracker at Bardavon
Two New York City Ballet principal dancers, Lauren King and Joseph Gordon, will perform in the New Paltz Ballet Theatre’s 21st season of The Nutcracker at the Bardavon in two performances on Saturday, December 9 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday, December 10 at 3 p.m.
Giant fighting mice, sugarplum fairies and huge toy soldiers are brought to life every holiday season in the classic ballet about a little girl and her special Christmas gift. The Nutcracker is a ballet in two acts, based on E. T. A. Hoffman’s tale “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” with music by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky.
The dreamlike journey through the Land of Snow and the Kingdom of Sweets will be enhanced by the colorful costumes and scenery of designer Ray Delle Robbins of the Houston Ballet and Houston’s Theatre under the Stars. Staging and choreography are by the New Paltz Ballet Theatre’s artistic directors, Peter and Lisa Naumann. The Naumanns both danced with the New York City Ballet for many years, and have performed in major works by acclaimed choreographers George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins and Peter Martins.
Tickets cost $32 for adults, $27 for Bardavon members and $29 for students, available through Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000 or www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets are also available at the Bardavon box office at 35 Market Street in Poughkeepsie, (845) 473-2072, and the UPAC box office at 601 Broadway in Kingston, (845) 339-6088.
Join the family! 
