Traditional treat: Oklahoma City Ballet bringing back holiday favorite 'The Nutcracker'

Jonathan Batista has an instinctive reaction when he hears the familiar enchanting sounds of Pyotr Tchaikovsky's “The Nutcracker.”

“I have a deep breath − I don't know why − every time it starts,” said Batista, one of Oklahoma City Ballet's principal dancers, singing out the memorable instrumentation and then inhaling and exhaling audibly. “I think the music just takes me when I hear it. It's so beautiful, it fills you up each time and each time and each time. You're never tired of it. It's never enough.”

A native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Batista calls himself “a ‘Nutcracker' kid.”

“I think ‘Nutcracker' was my first production ever. So, it takes me back to when I was a kid. Then, with English National Ballet, when I was a soldier, that's why I have such a spot in my heart for the soldier scene,” said Batista, an English National Ballet School graduate, who is alternating between playing one of the Spanish dancers and the Cavalier.

“I always go down to watch that scene because it just takes me back and it's so special.”

OKC Ballet will bring the perennial holiday favorite back to the Civic Center Friday through Dec. 23, with the Oklahoma City Philharmonic performing Tchaikovsky's legendary score live. The annual Nutcracker Tea in the Kingdom of Sweets on Dec. 22 with sweeten the run with more seasonal fun.

Artistic Director Robert Mills keeps his version of “The Nutcracker” faithful to the original libretto that premiered in 1892 at the Marinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. Adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” the seasonal fantasy centers on a girl named Clara who goes on a magical adventure involving a mouse army, enlivened toy soldiers and a Sugar Plum Fairy after she receives a handcrafted nutcracker as a Christmas gift.

“I like to think that it's always somebody's first time seeing it — or a kid's first time being in it,” said soloist Amy Potter, who will play the Sugar Plum Fairy in some shows and perform the Arabian dance in others.

She said she enjoys interacting with students from the Oklahoma City Ballet Yvonne Chouteau School, whose roles range from bakers and gingerbread cookies to angels and clowns in the yuletide fairy tale.

“You're like ‘Wow, I was there once.' You were in their shoes for your first show, and their whole family is there to see them be an angel. ... And it's so many people's family traditions to come every year. I like to keep that in the back of my mind, because it's easy to be like, ‘Ugh, “Nutcracker” again.' But if you think about it that way, it is special,” Potter said.

“Being able to actually step back and watch it ... I got goose bumps and teary-eyed when it started to snow. It is just so magical.”