The Wake Forest Youth Ballet is thrilled to present the highly-anticipated return of The Nutcracker Suite, featuring select numbers from the beloved holiday classic The Nutcracker, scored by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and performed by the leading youth ballet dancers in the Triangle area.

The Wake Forest Youth Ballet (WFYB) is a non-profit professional performance platform for dance students in the preparatory ballet program at Destiny Dance Institute (DDI) in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and provides dancers with a vehicle to perform both classical and contemporary ballet productions. Led by DDI Founder Patty Ogden and Artistic Director Terry Lehman, DDI’s high caliber ballet program for young dancers is recognized as one of the top ballet instructional programs in the Triangle area, and through a commitment to hard work, quality training, and excellence in production, offers a rigorous pre-professional instructional track to develop the technique and skill of its dancers.

WFYB and DDI are widely renowned and celebrated members of the Triangle area arts community, and their commitment to fostering the performance arts extends beyond the classroom to partnering with local arts professionals, including instructors, choreographers, seamstresses, set and lighting designers, photographers, actors, and more. They have built a thriving group of volunteers who have assisted with everything from fundraising to costume designs.

This year, the WFYB Nutcracker cast will be accompanied by special guest dancers from the Carolina Ballet, including Principal Dancers Alyssa Pilger, Nicholas Fokine, and retired Carolina Ballet dancer Manuel Barriga.

Tickets are now on sale for three Nutcracker Suite performances: Saturday, December 11th at 3:00 pm, Saturday, December 11th at 7:00 pm, and Sunday, December 12th at 3:00 pm. All showtimes will be in-person at Heritage High School in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and also viewable via livestream. The event will also feature holiday performances by the DDI hip-hop, jazz, and tap companies.

For tickets and information, visit www.wakeforestyouthballet.org/nutcracker.