The Nutcracker comes to the Lighthouse in Poole

If you are looking for an early autumn family outing, The English Youth Ballet is bringing its production of The Nutcracker to the Lighthouse in Poole this November. It is the company's first visit to the venue, and it comes with a cast that is worth knowing about: 100 young dancers, with international principal dancers leading a group of local talent selected by audition from within an 80 to 100 mile radius of the theatre. The show runs for two hours including the interval, and tickets start at £15.

The story is the one most people know. A young girl called Clara is given a nutcracker doll for Christmas, and in a magical dream the doll becomes a handsome prince. Together they set off to defeat the evil seven-headed Mouse King, travelling through the Snow Forest to the Sugar Plum Fairy's palace in the Kingdom of the Sweets. The choreography is adapted from Marius Petipa's original, created by Director Janet Lewis MBE and her team of international principal artists, and the music is Tchaikovsky's, with the Waltz of the Flowers and the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy both in there. Stage designs are by Sebastian Petit and costumes by Keith Bish.

Those principal dancers are not local fillers, either. They come from Santiago Ballet, Ballet Capitole du Toulouse, English National Ballet and Ballet Cymru. Janet Lewis MBE is the Artistic Director of the English Youth Ballet and the one who created the choreography for this production; the company has been teaching and nurturing children in classical ballet for the past 28 years, working to its motto "Dance Performance Experience Nationwide".

It is worth planning ahead, because the Friday evening performance has already gone. The 19:30 show on Friday 13 November is sold out, so your options are the Saturday 14 November performances at 14:30 and 19:30, both of which are still available to book. The matinee is the obvious choice if you are bringing younger children.

For anyone who has not been, the Lighthouse is a multi-arts venue at 21 Kingland Road, Poole, BH15 1UG, and it bills itself as the largest multi-space arts venue in the UK outside London. If you want to check the latest availability or book, the box office is on 01202 280000 and the website is lighthousepoole.co.uk. It is a straightforward, family-friendly way to get some culture into the autumn calendar, and with the local dancers involved, it is as much a community event as a professional one.