CRACKING INTO CHRISTMAS SEASON TRADITIONAL BALLET EXPECTED TO BE SOLD OUT LOCALLY.

Byline: Peggy Hager Staff Writer

LANCASTER - After months of hard work, the Antelope Valley Ballet will take the stage at the Lancaster Performing Arts Center to present a Christmas favorite, ``The Nutcracker.''

With 94 dancers and cast members ages 5 to 40, this year's production will be the biggest ever. Director Kathleen Burnett is also hoping it is the best.

``How are we going to be better?'' Burnett said she wondered after last year's production. ``I think, at least in most areas, we really are better. We're definitely bigger, and that automatically makes it more exciting - to see that many people on stage dancing together.''

``The Nutcracker'' ballet's story is based on a 19th century book, ``The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,'' written by E.T.A. Hoffman.

In 1891, choreographer Marius Petipa commissioned composer Peter Tchaikovsky to write the ballet music to accompany the story.

``The Nutcracker'' made its way to Western Europe in the 1930s and to America by 1940.

The ballet became a Christmas tradition in America after George Balanchine choreographed a version of it in 1954 in his first full-length work for the New York City Ballet.

``Some people really do go every year, and Balanchine was the first choreographer to really start presenting it every year, and it became this tradition like 'A Christmas Carol.' I think that the holidays are a real time of tradition for people, ... so it just lent itself to blending into that whole thing, and now ballet companies live off of it,'' Burnett said.

The Lancaster production of ``The Nutcracker'' features the return of former local dancer Jesse Marks, visiting from the Houston Ballet II. Marks will perform the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy's Cavalier. He was a member of the Antelope Valley Ballet for five years before graduating from high school last year.

Emily Jackson will reprise her role as the Sugar Plum Fairy. Jackson studied under Burnett when Burnett taught at the University of Oklahoma.

Burnett, a Lancaster dance instructor, first presented ``The Nutcracker'' in 1999. The show sold out in the last four years, and Burnett expects it to do so again this year.

``Because we are a small company and we don't get that many performances, it's nice to have a ballet that we do every year, so that people can really grow into roles and get used to choreography and get used to roles and develop in ways that they would if they were with a major company,'' Burnett said.

She is annoyed that some Antelope Valley residents drive to Los Angeles to see the ``The Nutcracker'' when they could see it locally.

``Maybe they don't even know this is going on up here, or they don't think it's that high ... quality,'' said Burnett. ``It really is. I think we're very competitive with them in L.A. - all those various ... companies - and we are a much more affordable ticket price than something down there.''

Performances will be at 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Lancaster Performing Arts Center, 750 W. Lancaster Blvd. Tickets are $26 for adults and $14 for children and teens 17 or younger. For more information or to order tickets, call the box office at [phone] or online at www.lpac.org.

Peggy Hager, [phone]

peggy.grimm-hager(at)dailynews.com

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(1 -- 2) Director Kathleen Burnett helps Antelope Valley Ballet dancers, above, prepare for ``The Nutcracker,'' including the Chinese dance scene, at left. The ballet will open Saturday in Lancaster.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News