The Sugar-Plum Fairy and the Cavalier will be back this holiday season in the form of several “Nutcracker Ballet” performances staged by two different ballet companies in the area.

NOVEMBER

Everybody Can DANCE’s production of “The Nutcracker Ballet,” Nov. 24 and 25, directed by Diane Zink, will feature professional dancer Jordi Ribera, who will also teach at the studio throughout the year. He will play the role of the Cavalier.

“We use a very traditional story to the original production,” said Zink. “We even use the original choreography for the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Cavalier in the final act.”

Everybody Can DANCE will use the original libretto, or storyline, for the ballet, rather than the book’s storyline. The ballet was on a revision of a story by E.T.A. Hoffman, according to Brad Maxwell at www.nutcrackerballet.net. The revision was written by Alexander Dumas, perhaps more famous for his adventure stories including “The Three Musketeers” and “The Man in the Iron Mask.”

This year’s production will showcase the students’ talent, as well as Ribera’s, said Zink. “Every year, our students get stronger, so we adapt the choreography to show their improvement,” said Zink. “And we do have Jordi Ribera ... a top world performer, who’s performing for us this year.”

Costume highlights include a cannon that’ll shoot a giant cheese puff at the mice during their battle with the Nutcracker, as well as Mother Gigone (or Ginger) and her oversized dress.

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Tickets for the Everybody Can DANCE performances cost $15 for adults and $7 for children. Performance times are 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 24 and 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 25. Both shows take place at the Clark Center for the Performing Arts, 487 Fair Oaks Ave. in Arroyo Grande. Tickets are available at the door on the day of the performance or at the box office at 489-9444 or www.clark center.org.

DECEMBER

And next month, Hancock College’s College for Kids Youth Dance program will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9. Both performances take place at the Ethel Pope auditorium at Santa Maria High School.

The same group will perform at the Clark Center in Arroyo Grande at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 15, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 16.

The College for Kids’ 16th annual production promises to be mostly traditional this year, although there will be a Mouse Queen instead of a Mouse King due to a shortage of male dancers.

“There are plenty of talented female dancers, so we cast one of them as the Mouse Queen,” said Director Cynthia Valenzuela.

The dancers for the program are all local. Valenzuela said the choreographers for the show have all drawn on their own experiences to produce their choreography.

“I would say that each year there’s always little tweaks in the choreography that we do,” she said. “Parts of it are standardized ... It’s a pretty basic story. There’s only a couple of areas where you would try to make it your own.”

Valenzuela said this year’s program should be strong, due to having five graduating seniors in the company.

“They’ve been with the program, some of them since elementary school,” said Valenzuela. “I think we’re going to have a strong production because we have older dancers who show maturity in their dancing and have more developed artistry.”

Tickets cost $9 to $12 for the Santa Maria High School show, and can be obtained by calling PCPA Theaterfest’s box office at 922-8313. Students and seniors get discounts for the show.

Tickets for the Arroyo Grande shows are $12 to $18, and can be obtained by calling 489-9444.

Bettina Adragna can be reached at 739-2220 or badragna@santa mariatimes.com.