Nashville's Nutcracker

Nashville Ballet brings Nashville's Nutcracker back to Jackson Hall at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center starting Friday, November 27, with performances running through December 27. It's the company's annual holiday production, and if you've lived here a while, you've probably heard it described as Middle Tennessee's favorite holiday tradition.

This isn't just a standard staging of the classic. It's a retelling by Artistic Director Emeritus Paul Vasterling, and he set the story against the backdrop of the 1897 Tennessee Centennial Exposition. That shift gives Clara's journey a distinctly Nashville lens, and the production has since earned an Emmy Award and a film adaptation. On stage, the professional company artists perform alongside young dancers from the School of Nashville Ballet and the local community, so you'll see the company's veterans sharing the stage with kids from around the city.

The music is a big part of the experience: Tchaikovsky's score is performed live by The Nashville Symphony, so you're getting a full orchestra in the room rather than a recording. Broadway World Nashville named the production 'Best Dance Production,' and it's become one of the company's most celebrated works.

Tickets run from $70.25 to $134.25, and the run stretches from November 27 through December 27 at Jackson Hall, 505 Deaderick Street.