(CLAIR | Thousand Oaks, CA) — The holidays begin in Thousand Oaks when the snow starts to fall inside the Fred Kavli Theatre. Pacific Festival Ballet’s The Nutcracker returns this Christmas, turning the stage into a world of light, sound, and motion that signals the season has arrived.
Families from Simi Valley, Moorpark and across Ventura County make the drive each year. Some will see the ballet for the first time, watching wide-eyed as the orchestra begins to play. Others return out of habit, drawn back by music they’ve known all their lives.
Many in the area agree there isn’t another holiday show quite like it. If you see only one theater production this season, make it The Nutcracker at the Thousand Oaks Performing Arts Center. Performances run Friday, December 19 at 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, December 20 and 21, with shows at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
The Nutcracker premiered in St. Petersburg in 1892 with music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The first audiences were reserved, but the score endured. “The Waltz of the Flowers” and “The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” became the soundtrack of winter.
In the 1950s, George Balanchine’s staging for the New York City Ballet turned the production into a national tradition. Since then, community theaters and professional companies have carried it forward year after year.
Pacific Festival Ballet keeps that legacy alive in Ventura County. Each December, the company pairs guest artists with local dancers who spend months rehearsing for the chance to step into the story. The moment the orchestra begins, every detail of that work comes to life.
The story itself hasn’t changed in more than a century. A young girl dreams of adventure, battles a king of mice, and wakes to a world of snow and music. What changes are the people who make it happen — each cast, each audience, each season adding its own voice to the tradition.
When the final note fades and the lights rise, the audience stands together, clapping long after the curtain closes. It’s a familiar ending that still manages to feel new. Another winter begins, and The Nutcracker carries the season forward once again.
