Westside Ballet of Santa Monica’s annual production of ‘The Nutcracker’ is set for the weekends of December 4-5 and December 11-12 at the Wadsworth Theatre, 11301 Wilshire Blvd. in Brentwood. This year’s ‘Nutcracker’ features Westside Ballet alumna Melissa Barak, now with Los Angeles Ballet, who will return as the Sugar Plum Fairy for two performances December 11-12. At age 8, Barak began her formal ballet training at Westside Ballet School. She studied there for eight years before enrolling in the School of American Ballet in New York, then went on to dance as a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet for nine years. Overseeing the production as artistic director is Yvonne Mounsey, founder of Westside Ballet of Santa Monica and former principal dancer with the New York City Ballet under George Balanchine. Saturday performances are at 2 and 7 p.m. and Sunday performances are at 1 and 5 p.m. For tickets ($30), visit ticketmaster.com or call (800) 982-2787. Information: westsideballet.com. Westside Ballet, a nonprofit organization, is one of the nation’s premier ballet training companies, currently comprising about 100 dancers, ages 8 to 18.
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