Charlotte Ballet: Nutcracker

Charlotte Ballet brings The Nutcracker back to the Belk Theater this winter, with the first performance on Friday, December 4. It's the Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux production, which the company describes as brimming with beauty, enchantment and holiday joy—a celebration of how imagination can transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. The dancers are accompanied live by the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, so you're getting the full orchestral sound in the room rather than a recording.

The run is long, which makes it easy to fit in around your own holiday plans. It opens Friday, December 4, at 7:30 PM, then continues through December 23. There are plenty of matinees if you're taking kids: Saturdays at 2 PM, Sundays at 2 PM, and later in the run, double-bills on Saturdays and Sundays with shows at both 2 PM and 7 PM. The full schedule is Dec 4 (7:30 PM); Dec 5 (2 PM, 7 PM); Dec 6 (2 PM); Dec 11 (7:30 PM); Dec 12 (2 PM, 7 PM); Dec 13 (2 PM, 7 PM); Dec 17 (7:30 PM); Dec 18 (7:30 PM); Dec 19 (2 PM, 7 PM); Dec 20 (2 PM, 7 PM); Dec 22 (2 PM, 7 PM); and Dec 23 (2 PM, 7 PM).

The venue is the Belk Theater, part of the Blumenthal Arts Center at 150 N. College St. / 290 E. 5th St. It was designed by architect Cesar Pelli and opened in 1992, with a contemporary European horseshoe arrangement and about 2,400 fiber-optic 'points of light' in the audience chamber. If you're driving, preferred parking is $10 at the Bank of America Center Parking Garage after 5 PM on weekdays.

Tickets start at $35. If you're bringing a crowd, there are group discounts: 10% off for groups of 10 or more, and 20% off for 20 or more. With nearly twenty performances to choose from across three weeks, you can pick the date and time that works best for you.