Saint Augustine Ballet presents 13th annual ‘Nutcracker’

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The Sugar Plum Fairy, the Mouse King, Clara, toy soldiers, mechanical dolls and all the other “Nutcracker” characters will come to life again this holiday season in St. Augustine.

This weekend, Saint Augustine Ballet will present its 13th annual “Nutcracker” — a timeless classic featuring music by Tchaikovsky, professional ballet dancers and dance students from St. Augustine and surrounding areas. 

Performances are 1:30 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 18, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 19 at Lewis Auditorium at Flagler College, 14 Granada St.

Tickets are $35, $40 and $50 per seat. Tickets are available at saintaugustineballet.org or by calling 855-222-2849.

Directed by Luis Abella, the ballet will feature more than 50 area dance students performing ballet, tap and tumbling. The students auditioned in August and have been in rehearsals every Saturday through December. 

“The ‘Nutcracker’ puts everyone in the mood for the holidays, and this is a family ballet that everyone can identify with,” said Abella, a trained dancer from Cuba who toured professionally before moving to St. Augustine and creating Saint Augustine Ballet. “We update the scenes each year to make it more audience-friendly. Even if guests don’t know about ballet, they will still understand the timeless story.”

Local students Annabelle Hucke and Meadow Kuc will share the role of Clara, the young girl who receives a toy Nutcracker for Christmas. As she falls asleep on Christmas Eve, she dreams of helping The Nutcracker defeat the Mouse King in a battle royale. The Nutcracker toy turns into a real prince, and together, Clara and her prince go on an adventure through the land of Snow and Sweets, meeting some very colorful characters in the process.

Guest artists Patricia Garcia de Santamarina Roca and Jennifer Villalon Perez will share the role of Sugar Plum Fairy. 

Patricia Garcia de Santamarina Roca, a professional ballet dancer and instructor, was born in London in 1995, and then attended the Cuban National Ballet School from 2005 through 2013.

She became a member of the National Ballet of Cuba, directed by Alicia Alonso, from 2014 to 2018, performing in productions such as “Giselle,” “Don Quixote,” “Swan Lake,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “Cinderella” and “The Nutcracker,” among many other dance productions.

From January 2019 through July 2021, she was a member of Acosta Danza in Havana, Cuba. She recently joined Saint Augustine Ballet as a dance teacher and is a choreographer and assistant director of the “Nutcracker.” 

Jennifer Villalon Perez was born in 1994 and started at age 5 in 1999 at the National Ballet School in Cuba.

She graduated in 2012 with a superior level in classic ballet, and was selected to be a part of the National Ballet of Cuba, directed by the Prime Ballerina Alicia Alonso. In 2014 she participated in the International Festival of Ballet in Havana, integrating a body of work of dance from the great classics like “Giselle,” “Swan Lake,” “Don Quixote,” “Coppelia,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “The Nutcracker,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Las Sifides,” “Bayadera,” “Paquita” and others. Also in 2014, she performed in “The Nutcracker” in Burlington, Canada.

In 2016, she was invited by Jose Manuel Carreño, artistic director of Silicon Valley Ballet in California, to perform in “Giselle.” In 2016, she joined the Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami, and has been performing classic and contemporary performances. She is a guest teacher at Saint Augustine Ballet, offering workshops in ballet, pointe, repertoire and Flamenco.  

Guest artist Mikail Hernández will play the Nutcracker/Prince. Eléa Woodward, a Saint Augustine Ballet student for more than 10 years and a 2021 high school graduate, will play the Dew Drop Fairy. Chris Pacetti, operations chief for the St. Augustine Fire Department, will reprise the role of Mother Ginger. Other area “celebrities” will be featured in the opening scene during this community performance.

Saint Augustine Ballet is a nonprofit organization that believes dance is an essential part of any thriving community. Its mission is to involve community members of all ages in meaningful dance experiences, whether as a participating dancer or audience member. 

“We are thrilled to present the annual ballet to the St. Augustine community and its visitors,” Abella said. 

Go to saintaugustineballet.org for tickets and more details.