New York City Ballet principal dancers will perform the leading roles in Canton Ballet’s spectacular holiday showpiece The Nutcracker in four performances December 7-9 at the Canton Palace Theatre. NYCB dancers Sterling Hyltin and Joseph Gordon will dance Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier in all performances.
This is an outstanding opportunity for audiences to see top-ranking members of America’s premier ballet company here in Stark County. Performances will be Friday, December 7, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, December 8, 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, December 9, 2:00 p.m.
Hyltin received standing ovations as Sugar Plum Fairy in Canton last year. A 15- year member of NYCB, she has danced featured roles in many works by the company’s legendary choreographer and co-founder George Balanchine and numerous other well-known choreographers.
Gordon will make his Canton performance premier in Canton Ballet’s The Nutcracker this year. A six-year NYCB member, he was promoted to principal dancer in the fall and debuted as male lead in Balanchine’s Jewels and Jerome Robbins’ Afternoon of a Faun. In October he was described by chief New York Times critic Alistair Macaulay as “a mysterious Adonis whose classicism is made of air.”
Admission is $21-25 for adults and $17-19 for children under 18. There is a discount for groups of 15 or more. Reserved seat tickets may be purchased online at cantonballet.com and in person or by telephone at 330-455-7220 at the ballet office in the Canton Cultural Center for the Arts, 1001 Market Ave. N. in Canton. Office hours are 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. The office is closed Friday and Sunday. Use the Cleveland Avenue entrance.
The beautifully restored historic Palace Theatre is located at 605 Market Ave. N. in the downtown Canton Arts District. There is a wheelchair seating area on the main floor. The theatre box office opens one hour only before performance times for advance purchase pickups and walkup sales.
Canton Ballet’s The Nutcracker is sponsored by Kenan Advantage Group and is funded in part by ArtsinStark and the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, with support by The Canton Repository and Q92 radio.
Cassandra Crowley is Canton Ballet artistic and executive director. The ballet has been performing the current production of The Nutcracker since 1984. The run time is two hours including intermission.
