Wade on Birmingham

Three-and-a-half Nutcrackers

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Video: Dog auditions for “The Mutt-cracker” at Birmingham Ballet

Three dance companies are taking the stage with their variations on holiday classic “The Nutcracker” for Birmingham audiences … 

• The “Great Russian Nutcracker” from the Moscow Ballet jetés into town tonight. Two dancers form the Dove of Peace with a 20-foot wingspan; other characters include 10-foot-tall silk puppets and lifesize nesting dolls. Showtime is 7 at the Alabama Theatre downtown. Tickets are $38.60-$81.50 and available through Ticketmaster.

• Birmingham Ballet has its “Nutcracker,” too, but with an opening night twist. In addition to performances on Dec. 13 and 14, the company presents “The Mutt-cracker” on Dec. 12. Some two dozen dogs take the stage alongside humans for this special production; proceeds for that night benefit the Greater Birmingham Humane Society. BJCC Concert Hall downtown. Tickets for all performances are $27.85-$54.75 and available online.

• The Alabama Ballet offers two weekends of “George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker” at Samford University. The company is one of seven worldwide with the rights to perform this version. Audiences can shop for nutcrackers before the show and during intermission. Dec. 12-14 and 19-21 at Samford’s Wright Center. Tickets are $25-$55 and available online.

The Mutt-cracker, Birmingham Ballet

Dancers, two-legged and four-legged, take the stage
in Birmingham Ballet’s “The Mutt-cracker.”

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