The Nutcracker at Bridges Auditorium

Inland Pacific Ballet, SoCal’s Premier Professional Ballet Co presents its annual spectacular production of The Nutcracker this holiday season with 4 performances at Bridges Auditorium at Pomona College in Claremont; Dec 13-14 and  3 performances at Fox Performing Arts Center in Riverside; Dec 20-21.

The Nutcracker comes to life in this magnificent ballet with beautiful sets, dazzling costumes handmade by Inland Pacific Ballet’s longtime wardrobe mistress Nina Hickey, Tchaikovsky’s classic score, and more than 80 dancers on stage. Toy soldiers, life-sized dancing dolls, falling snow, a fantastic dream with battling mice, dancing snowflakes, new Color Guard rifle twirling battle dancers, waltzing flowers, gingerbread characters, and the delightful Sugar Plum Fairy stir the imagination. A wonderful production for all.

In addition to IPB’s Company of professional dancers and special guest artists, this highly diverse cast also includes many young dancers from the IPB Academy - a total of 62 youth between the ages of 6-18 who make up multiple casts at the two venues, where many are from local area communities.

Experience the magic of the holidays with family and friends at southern California’s most spectacular production of The Nutcracker from critically acclaimed Inland Pacific Ballet. This annual production tells the story of a young girl named Clara who receives a magical nutcracker doll on Christmas Eve and sets out on a wondrous journey to the Land of the Snow and the Kingdom of Sweets.

Inland Pacific Ballet is proud to announce special guest artists who will be performing in this year’s performances as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier:

For performances on December 13 and 14 at Bridges Auditorium at Pomona College in Claremont, Lori Hernández, a highly sought after and popular guest principal artist who has over 1.4 million followers on TikTok, will dance in the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy, along with City Ballet of San Diego company member Brien Heil in the role of Cavalier.

For performances on December 20 and 21 at Fox Performing Arts Center in Riverside, former IPB Academy student and now a New York City Ballet principal dancer, and the first Asian American female principal in NYCB’s 75-year history, Mira Nadon returns to IPB’s Nutcracker to dance in the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy, along with fellow NYCB principal dancer Peter Walker dancing in the role of Cavalier. This will be Nadon’s first appearance performing in the Inland Empire performing as the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Bridges Auditorium, 450 N College Way, Claremont, CA 91711

        Saturday, December 13 & Sunday, December 14: 12 p.m.

        Saturday, December 13 & Sunday, December 14: 4 p.m.

Fox Performing Arts Center, 3801 Mission Inn Avenue, Riverside, CA 92501

        Saturday, December 20 and Sunday, December 21: 2 p.m.

        Saturday, December 20: 7:30 p.m.

Tickets: Starting at $41; with senior/child/student/group pricing available