December 21-22, 2024
Paramount Theatre of the Arts
2025 Broadway
Oakland, CA
$30-131 approx., oaklandballet.org
December 21, 2024, 1 p.m.
December 22, 2024, 1 p.m.
california nutcracker
Oakland Ballet Company presents Graham Lustig's The Nutcracker with the Oakland Symphony and Piedmont East Bay Children's Choir.
Doors open 60 minutes before show time.
Graham Lustig's The Nutcracker creates holiday magic for all ages featuring artists of the Oakland Ballet Company, and members of the Oakland East Bay Symphony conducted by Michael Morgan. Staging of this family classic mixes whimsy with tradition in a holiday performance relatively new to the Bay Area, introduced circa 2010.
Lustig, the Artistic Director of the
Oakland Ballet Company, joined the
company in 2010, and has
set the fresh, new pace with the
restaging of The Nutcracker to
encompass local talent and reflect the
community interest in rekindling theater
arts focus.
Graham Lustig is internationally known.
He trained at the Royal Ballet School in
London, was coached by such luminaries
as Rudolf Nureyev, Nikolai Beriosov,
Kurt Jooss and John Taras and, performed
as soloist and choreographer at Dutch
National Ballet. In England he joined
the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet, where
he spent 12 years touring the world and
performing soloist and principal roles
in critically acclaimed re-stagings of
the classics.
With a Dutch Choreographic Award
nomination under his belt and
countless commissions from Pittsburgh
Ballet Theatre, Ballet West, Singapore
Dance Theatre, Northern Ballet Theatre,
Hong Kong Ballet, Ririe-Woodbury Dance
Company and Sacramento Ballet, his
repertoire ranges from tongue-in-cheek
sophistication to the wildly
imaginative.
His credits are endless: The Washington
Ballet distinguished
Choreographer-in-Residence, Artistic
Director of the American Repertory
Ballet and its affiliated school, the
Princeton Ballet School, and many,
many more. From our perspective Oakland
has gained a treasure in this talented
artistic director with a world of
knowledge and experience that can help
the Oakland Ballet Company put its best
foot forward, continuing to blossom and
grow.
Lustig founded a non-profit dance
organization, lustigdancetheatre, which
encompasses a dance and wellness studio,
plus a professional dance company
dedicated to serving the central New
Jersey community. The talent's
For other fun events throughout the year, be sure to check out the holiday Lighted Yacht Parade, Oakland Halloween events, the Spring Egg Hunts, Oktoberfest and the Tree Lighting Ceremony.