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The world-acclaimed Joffrey Ballet brings its breathtaking production of The Nutcracker to St. Louis for the first time Wednesday through Sunday, December 5-9, when Dance St. Louis and AmerenUE present the sumptuous holiday entertainment of Nutcracker at the Fox.

Nutcracker at the Fox unites the The Joffrey Ballet, live orchestra, and more than 150 young St. Louis-area singers and dancers in a show as spectacular as the Fox Theatre itself. The gorgeous production evokes the beauty and joy of an American Christmas in the 1850s. The lavish costumes and sets—from a family parlor straight out of a Currier and Ives print to the fairy-tale Kingdom of Sweets—are inspired by antique toys and Victorian Christmas cards.

The Joffrey Ballet’s incomparable dancers perform choreography by the company’s co-founders, Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino. Tchaikovsky’s music resounds in its full glory sung by the 49 members of the Cambiata Singers of the Kirkwood Children’s Chorale and played by The Ballet Orchestra of St. Louis. A total of 118 dancers from 40 regional dance schools portray Christmas Eve party guests, mischievous mice, toy soldiers, mechanical dolls, Christmas tree angels, and “polichinelles”—children who hide under the giant skirts of Mother Ginger, a 16-foot-tall puppet designed by Kermit Love of Sesame Street fame.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, December 5-7; at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, December 8; and at 1 p.m. on Sunday, December 9.

Tickets are $20-$75 for the general public, $18-$68 for students and seniors. They are available at the Fox Theater box office, by phone at MetroTix at 314-534-1111 and via metrotix.com.

The story of the ballet will be read to children in the Fox Theatre’s Marquee Room starting 45 minutes before each show:  6:45 p.m. December 5-7, 1:15 and 6:45 p.m. December 8; and 12:15 p.m. December 9.

The ballet is a child’s journey into enchantment. A young girl named Clara is given a toy Nutcracker by her godfather, an eccentric toymaker and magician, at her family’s Christmas Eve party. Late that night, Clara’s Nutcracker magically leads her into fantastic adventures, from a battle against wicked mice to the wondrous realm of the Sugar Plum Fairy. “This never-ending dream of Christmas enables each of us to revisit the land of innocence: our childhood,” wrote Robert Joffrey about his version of The Nutcracker.

Founded in 1956, The Joffrey Ballet is one of the premier dance troupes of the world, acclaimed for its outstanding dancers and its diverse repertory of both historical ballets and groundbreaking contemporary ballets. Originally based in New York, The Joffrey Ballet made Chicago its permanent home in 1995.