How do you ring in the holiday season? Some put up lights, others a tree and many play festive beautiful music to put them in the merry mood. All that and more can be found in the Westside Ballet’s showing of the Nutcracker.

The longest running rendition of the Nutcracker in Los Angeles, the Westside Ballet’s Production of George Ballanchine choreography of the Nutcracker is filled with the Christmas Spirit and splendor. Show casing some of the finest up and coming dancers on the ballet scene the production begins on Christmas when the young heroine Clara receives a Nutcracker from her Uncle. She is soon transported into a world of fairies, fighting mice and magic.

George Ballanchine originally choreographed a production of The Nutcracker in 1954 for the New York City Ballet. Mr. Ballanchine’s rendition of the Nutcracker follows quite closely with the novel that the ballet is based on, making the Westside Ballet one of the closest versions in quality and honor to the original show 1954.

Based on the book called “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” by E.TA. Hoffman the ballet was originally created when Marius Petipa commissioned Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky  to write music to his choreography. This famous suite by Tchaikovsky is know the world over with pieces such as “Waltz of the Flowers” or the “Coffee dance” among other others, many paying tribute to various countries across the globe. Several of the pieces were later used in Disney’s Cartoon Classic Fantasia including “The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies”.

“We honor the music of Tchaikovsky and maintain the traditional Grand Pas de Deux choreography for the Sugarplum Fairy and her Cavalier,” said Caprice Walker, the Associate Artistic Director of the Westside Ballet company.

The first showing of the ballet was in 1892 in Russia. It soon became a success and was first seen by American audiences in 1940 in San Francisco. Today the Nutcracker is known as a part of the holiday cheer.

The Westside Ballet is a pre-professional company that was created in 1970 by Rosemary Valaire and Yvonne Monnsey, who is also the Artistic Director of this performance. Having been a principal dancer in George Ballanchine’s numerous ballets for the New York City Ballet Company, Yvonne seems well equipped to lead these burgeoning dancers on their journey to dancing fame. According to Caprice Walker a pre-professional company indicates that many of their dancers have gone onto successful dancing careers.

Feeding from the Westside School of ballet, the Westside Ballet is located in Santa Monica, teaches ballet to approximately 100 dancers between the ages of 8 and 19.  In the performance of the Nutcracker alone there is an age range of at least 7 years, with the youngest performer being 10 and going all the way to 17, along with some professional dancers who accompany the students in some of the work.

I am always enchanted by Tchaikovsky's gorgeous music and still get goose bumps at particular moments in the ballet,” Ms. Walker said.