Student and professional dancers alike will perform in Ballet Des Moines’ production of “The Nutcracker”. 

Ballet Des Moines uses student and professional dancers. The students that perform are between the ages of five and 18 and are mainly from central Iowa. Auditions began in August, and there were roles for all ages said Jody Gifford, executive director for Ballet Des Moines. There are eight professional dancers in the production are in their 20s and are from all over the world. 

The Artistic Director for “The Nutcracker” is Serkan Usta, an accomplished dancer, and has featured in “Three Musketeers”, “Romeo and Juliet” and “Don Quixote”. She was hired by Ballet Des Moines in 2005 as the Artistic Director. The Ballet Mistress of the Ballet Des Moines is Lori Grooters, an Iowa native and previous soloist at Tulsa Ballet. She toured with Tulsa Ballet in Portugal and danced with Ballet Iowa from 1994 through 1997.

Ballet Des Moines will put on its 13th production of “The Nutcracker”  Dec. 11 through Dec. 14. “The Nutcracker” is a story of a girl named Clara who is given a nutcracker on Christmas Eve. When she falls asleep she begins to dream of the battle between the Rat King and the Nutcracker prince, which takes place in the Land of Sweets. 

According to Gifford, “The Nutcracker” is the hallmark of the ballet season. 

“The Nutcracker” will be at the Hoyt Sherman Place at 7 p.m. on Dec. 11, 12 and 13. There are two shows that are at 1 p.m. on Dec. 13 and 14. Tickets range between $23 and $69 and can be found at Ticketmaster.com.