The Pennsylvania College of Technology, Lycoming College, Saint John’s School of the Arts and Williamsport Youth Choir will be presenting the timeless classic.

“It is a huge community collaboration bringing together dancers, musicians and singers from our community,”said Theresa Kendall, the artistic director/choreographer of “The Nutcracker.”

Kendall has been a dancer, teacher and choreographer of Saint John’s School of the Arts (SOTA) since it was founded in 1996. She has been involved in the annual “Nutcracker” production since 2017.

“We are doing something that is valuable to our community, and I am proud to be a part of it,” said William Ciabattari, music director of “The Nutcracker.”

Kendall and Ciabattari have been collaborating since 2014 and have been a part of The Nutcracker production since 2017.

“This is the fifth ‘Nutcracker’ we’ve done as partners. I feel like we know so much through experience that we can walk in each session with more confidence,” Ciabattari said.

“She’s a delightful artistic collaborator, and she’s a lovely person as well,” he said.

The dancers, including leads, are all local, and most of them are under 18 years old.

“We do not bring in professional dancers, and (we) cast it entirely from our local region,” Kendall said. “The dancers have been learning choreography since late August. They practice hours every week to learn, grow and refine technique, combinations, musicality and ensemble awareness.”

The orchestra is made up of members of Williamsport Symphony Orchestra, faculty at Lycoming College, some students and other local musicians.

“We hire excellent players,” Ciabattari said. “We rehearse once without the dancers for about 3 hours. Then we get two long rehearsals with the dancers before we put on our shows. It comes together pretty quickly thanks to the preparation that goes on before we ever step foot in the CAC,” he added.

“Dancing to live music is thrilling. There is nothing so wonderful. I am grateful that my students get this opportunity. It also challenges the dancers to listen carefully and be very focused,” Kendall said.

With each year’s production, parts are changed to make it new and exciting for the dancers involved as well as the audience.

“This year ‘The Waltz of the Flowers’ is a modern dance which incorporates beautiful baskets of flowers, flowing floral costumes and dynamic sustained and leveled choreography,” she added.

This year’s production features 79 dancers and 226 costumes.

“Transporting all the costumes, props and accessories is arduous, but well worth it to bring this timeless Christmas story to our families and friends.” Kendall said. “It is a joy and privilege in my life to work with my dancers. They are hard working, kind, helpful and encouraging and supportive of each other — always,” she said.

In the past, “The Nutcracker” was led by Tom Enterline.

“When he decided to no longer produce a live ‘Nutcracker,’ I made some calls to see if we could take over running it but to do it with a live orchestra,” Ciabattari said. “The first production we did was a big financial risk, because we didn’t know if we could sell enough tickets to pay for it…That first production was successful as have all of our productions since,” Ciabattari said.

“Rebecca Ciabattari is the current SOTA Director. SOTA’s mission is to offer children, youth, and adults of the greater Williamsport area a school devoted to excellent training in music and the fine arts in an atmosphere and environment supporting the Christian ethic,” Kendall said.

“I established and gratefully live by the motto ‘We Dance for Him.’ SOTA is honored to continue to partner with the CAC, Lycoming College and the Williamsport Youth Choir for this production.” she added.

To purchase tickets for Saturday and Sunday’s performances of “The Nutcracker” visit www.caclive.com.