More local performers in 'Nutcracker' production

What makes one "Nutcracker" more fabulous than the next one? At the very least, it's the ability to make us stop worrying whether the dancers will execute a challenging leap without slipping and falling.

Beyond that, we're looking to suspend disbelief, be charmed out of our usual mindset and, in the case of adults, pour our aging spirits into the innocent psyche of a lithe, young Clara.

That done, we can sit wide-eyed in our seats and enjoy the parade of fanciful creatures dancing before Clara on her throne. For children, this is no problem.

Last year's "The Nutcracker" presented by the Richmond Ballet with Hampton Roads groups the Virginia Arts Festival, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, the Virginia Children's Chorus and Todd Rosenlieb Dance is returning.

Richmond Ballet's version, choreographed by Stoner Winslett, the 25-year-old company's artistic director, is richly imagined and beautifully produced. The Arabian dance, for example, steers from the usual Middle Eastern harem interpretation to a mesmerizing performance by a female dancer as sensual snake.

This year, more area performers have been added, so more local pride can be taken in the upcoming Chrysler Hall performances, set for Dec. 4 through 6.

The ballet company estimates some 137 Hampton Roads dancers, singers and musicians will have a role in E.T.A. Hoffmann's fairy-tale romance set to music by Tchaikovsky, of a nutcracker-turned-prince and a little girl in the land of dancing sugar plums and battling mice.

Teresa Annas, (757) 446-2485, teresa.annas@pilotonline.com