A young girl, a heroic prince, a giant, nasty mouse and a roomful of toys that get a little out of control after midnight.

Such a formula has gripped the hearts of Christmas-spirited audiences in almost every city across the country — including Ames.

For the past 19 years, Tchaikovsky’s time-honored ballet, “The Nutcracker,” has been presented to Ames residents, by Ames residents.

And years of practice makes perfect.

“It’s just so visually rich compared to what it was 14 years ago,” says Joyce Emery, community member and party guest for the ballet. “[Fourteen years ago] it was very nice, but it was very simple. There are a lot more special effects, and the costumes and props have become more elaborate over the decades. It makes it that much greater of an experience for the amateurs.”

The annual performance, which calls for a variety of roles, has become known for pulling in performers who have had very little training, as well as seasoned pros.

Every September, the Iowa State Center sends notices to dance studios all over Ames, Boone and Des Moines, informing them of the tryouts. From the pool that auditions, over 200 people are picked to dance.

“There’s usually an assortment of judges,” says Janice Baker, assistant professor of dance and director for Act I of the ballet. “Plus, there’s at least three other dance captains or ballet mistresses, and we all put our two cents in.”

When the judges are choosing dancers, they try to select dancers of many ages with different degrees of talent and style to fit the different parts. For example, younger children are needed for the children parts while older dancers are picked to fill the parts of the mature party guests.

“There are parts for everyone, young and old, every level of talent and every body shape,” Emery says.

Krista Paulson, an eighth grader from Boone who plays the part of the ballerina doll, says most of the dancers are in dance classes at local studios in Ames, Boone and Des Moines. Paulson, who has been dancing since she was three years old, has been in numerous productions of the Ames performance.

“I saw [“The Nutcracker”] when I was a little kid, and it got me to like dance,” Paulson remembers.

The show has been a source of inspiration to some other community members as well. Mike Fothergill, a dancer from Urbandale High School who plays the Nutcracker himself, enjoys being a part of the show because it’s a good way to get people involved in the arts.

“It brings everyone in Iowa together,” Fothergill suggests. “In Iowa, because we don’t have a dance company, we have to put things together with the people in the community.”

Because different parts vary in difficulty, the ballet is able to present challenges to even the most classically trained dancers such as Fothergill.

“On the big, hefty jumps, sometimes I get up too high and don’t come down with the music,” Fothergill laughs. “I’ve always been a strict classical dancer and the acting has always been a hard part.”

Though the show offers challenging classical steps for the trained dancers, certain scenes require more popular styles.

“We get to do some interesting choreography that is very much like the ballroom dance steps of today,” Emery says. “Except that we’re doing it in period costume, which makes it fun to have big, swoopy skirts.”

To give a bit of a treat to the more professional dancers, every year the Iowa State Center arranges for two professional dancers to appear in the roles of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Cavalier.

Aleksandra Koltun, who dances with the Boston Ballet, will be dancing the part of the Sugar Plum Fairy and Gennadi Saveliev, who dances with the American Ballet Theatre, will be playing the part of the Cavalier.

“The guest artists don’t come until Thursday,” Fothergill says. “They’ll bring their own variation of the part. As long as they fit the music, all we really have to do is stage it.”

Because each year’s choreography and cast is a new variation, Fothergill says people keep coming back to see the magical masterpiece.

“It’s one thing that gets people in the Christmas spirit,” Fothergill says. “It attracts people right off the bat.

“It’s one of the first ballets that’s lasted so many years — it’s kind of a tradition everywhere.”