After having to cancel the March and May programs of the 19|20 Season and the opening program of the 20|21 Season due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Atlanta Ballet's spectacular production of The Nutcracker by Yuri Possokhov will also be canceled. This is only the second season that Atlanta Ballet will be without a Nutcracker production in 61 years. 

This production, which would have been performed 30 times between December 5-30, 2020, has a distinctive set of challenges in terms of maintaining social distance throughout rehearsals and the performance run due to the incredible number of people that are required to come together in perfect harmony in order to present a successful show. The preparation to bring this to the stage typically begins in August.

The production includes Atlanta Ballet’s roster of 39 Company dancers, 19 Atlanta Ballet 2 dancers, and 168 students from the Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education – who collectively spend more than 400 hours rehearsing in the studio in the months leading up to opening night. Additionally, it requires more than 40 musicians in the orchestra, more than 35 crew members, and multiple costumers, lighting and design techs, and production members, to bring the magic of The Nutcracker to life. A whopping 11 stagehands are needed just to move the 30-foot toy cabinet across the stage during the awe-inspiring battle scene.

"Our company dancers are eager to get back into the studio, even during their usual summer time off, but the reality of COVID-19’s presence in our state and country requires us to maintain a strict protocol before we can go back to rehearsing and performing as we used to do,” Nedvigin said in regards to keeping Atlanta Ballet dancers safe and healthy.  

Described as “one of the most entertaining [Nutcrackers] out there” by The Washington Post following last year’s Washington, D.C. debut at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, this perennial favorite production will be missed this holiday season.

Atlanta Ballet is committed to providing audiences with a different kind of Nutcracker experience this year. An alternative Nutcracker experience will be announced in the coming weeks. Check back for more information. To see updates about The Nutcracker and Atlanta Ballet’s revised 20|21 performance season in real time, be sure to follow Atlanta Ballet on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. 

Revised 2020|2021 Season Performance Schedule: 

• Firebird | February 12-14, 2021 at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre
  Yuri Possokhov’s Firebird
  A world premiere by newly-announced choreographer-in-residence Claudia Schreier

• Giselle | March 19-21, 2021 at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre

• Atlanta Ballet 2 Presents Snow White | April 15-18, 2021 at Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center at City Springs
  A one-hour family ballet by Bruce Wells

• Stars and Stripes | May 14-16, 2021 at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre
  George Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes
  A world premiere by Juliano Nunes