A Decade of ABT’s ‘Nutcracker’ at Segerstrom
- Kaitlin Wright
- Dec 17, 2025
- 5 min read
Over 10 years, the production has become a place where dancers grow up, families return and tradition is renewed each season.
When American Ballet Theatre’s “The Nutcracker” arrived in Orange County in December 2015, it wasn’t simply opening another holiday run. The company made a deliberate decision to anchor Alexei Ratmansky’s production at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, relocating it from New York and pairing its West Coast premiere with the launch of the ABT William J. Gillespie School – a move designed to weave professional performance and dancer training together from the start.
Ten holiday seasons later, that vision has taken hold. What began as a bold institutional partnership has become a defining December ritual at Segerstrom, returning each year with Ratmansky’s detailed choreography, Tchaikovsky’s score performed live by Pacific Symphony, and generations of dancers (both professional and local) who have grown up inside the production.
An artistic home in Orange County
“Orange County has become a true artistic home for ‘The Nutcracker,’” said Susan Jaffe, artistic director of American Ballet Theatre. “There is a genuine spirit of partnership the moment you walk into the theater. Artistically, it’s a place where the production has thrived. Where audiences are deeply engaged and where our dancers feel genuinely supported and appreciated.”
From the beginning, Segerstrom offered what Ratmansky’s choreography requires: scale, technical capacity and space. Early critics noted that the ballet’s sweeping formations and new interpretations, like a multi-headed rat king, menacing snowflakes, and energetic male bumblebees, finally had room to breathe. The Center’s ability to support a live orchestra further reinforced the production’s theatrical ambition.
Over the past decade, Segerstrom audiences have seen some of ABT’s most celebrated artists perform in the holiday run, including Misty Copeland in the early seasons. Yet the ballet’s staying power here has been built as much on continuity as on star power.
Why this ‘Nutcracker’ never gets old
“This version of ‘The Nutcracker’ is unlike any other,” said ABT dancer Lauren Bonfiglio, who originated the role of Young Clara in Ratmansky’s production as a student and now performs in the corps de ballet.
“I’ve been dancing in ‘Nutcracker’ productions since I was 7 years old, so for me, dancing to Tchaikovsky’s score is a holiday tradition,” she said.
And after all these years, she isn’t tired of it.
“You could watch it time after time and see something new with each viewing. Whether it’s a character in the party scene, the details on the sets and costumes, the theatrical magic of the production, the intricate formations of the snowflakes, or the individual interpretations that each dancer has to offer in a role, it always feels alive.”
That sense of vitality is by design. Jaffe, artistic director of American Ballet Theatre, notes the way humor, emotional growth and even moments of danger coexist in Ratmansky’s “Nutcracker” as central to why it endures.
“These layers of storytelling give Ratmansky’s ‘Nutcracker’ its singular depth,” she said. “It invites us not only to watch, but to feel the wonder, danger, humor and longing woven into every step.”
Those layers often surface in small, unexpected moments. Early reviews of Ratmansky’s “Nutcracker” noted flashes of humor and surprise that set the production apart from more familiar versions. Among them was a brief but unforgettable image: a mouse peeking mischievously out of a stewpot in the Stahlbaum kitchen, a moment of comedy that reliably breaks the fourth wall with laughter.
A decade later, that moment remains, passed down from cast to cast. This season, the mouse emerging from the stewpot is 10-year-old Mabel Francis from Costa Mesa.
“When I take my bow, I get to take off the rat head and everyone just sees that it’s just a little girl who just did all that,” she said. “That’s when everyone starts laughing and cheering.”
Growing up inside the production
For years, Mabel watched her older sister, Rosey, move through the children’s roles in ABT’s “Nutcracker.” This season, the sisters finally share the stage – Rosey, 13, dancing the role of Young Clara in her fifth year with the production, and Mabel stepping into the Little Mouse role that Rosey herself danced in 2022.
One of Rosey’s favorite moments in the ballet comes when she and her younger sister briefly cross paths onstage.
“There’s one moment where me and Mabel get to interact,” said Rosey. “We don’t get to see each other a lot backstage, so then we get to that part, it’s really special and fun.”
Sisters Rosey and Mabel Francis rehearse at the American Ballet Theater William J. Gillespie School ahead of performances for ABT’s “The Nutcracker” at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. PHOTO 1: Rosey Francis, 13, plays the role of Young Clara in ABT’s 2025 production of “The Nutcracker” at Segerstrom Center for the Arts. PHOTO 2: Mabel Francis, 10, plays the role of Little Mouse. Photos by Elaina Francis, courtesy of Segerstrom Center for the Arts
For both sisters, the experience of performing in ABT’s production is shaped not only by family but by proximity to the professional dancers they perform alongside each night.
“It’s so special,” Rosey said. “The biggest goal is to do what they’re doing. Seeing them interact, seeing their warm-up classes, it’s so inspiring and it really shows what this could turn into.”
Mabel notices the encouragement, too. “They give me high fives after I do a good job,” she said.
Their mother, Elaina Francis, sees that support as intentional. “The company puts a lot of effort into making the kids feel comfortable and safe,” she said. “They remember how it felt. They were all in ‘The Nutcracker’ when they were kids.”
Ten years in, the return still matters
That sense of return extends to the company itself. Several of the principal dancers who performed as Clara the Princess and the Prince in ABT’s inaugural 2015 Costa Mesa season are again part of this year’s cast, including Isabella Boylston, Hee Seo, Cory Stearns, Herman Cornejo and James Whiteside.
Their presence underscores a defining quality of ABT’s “The Nutcracker” at Segerstrom. It is a production shaped not by novelty, but by artists revisiting familiar roles with years of experience alongside young dancers encountering the ballet for the first time.
Over a decade, that continuity has helped establish something rarer than a seasonal engagement. The annual return has woven ABT’s “Nutcracker” into Orange County’s cultural fabric, reinforcing Segerstrom Center for the Arts as a place where major classical ballet doesn’t just pass through, but takes root.
Said Jaffe: “Our relationship with the Orange County community has meant so much to ABT. Over the years, we’ve felt not only welcomed but truly embraced. The Segerstrom audiences are knowledgeable, enthusiastic and incredibly loyal. They’ve shared in our dancers’ milestones, celebrated their debuts, and supported our artistic evolution.”
Remaining performances of ‘The Nutcracker’ include:
Where: Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa
When: 7 p.m. Dec. 17-20; 2 p.m. Dec. 20; 11:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Dec. 21
Cost: Starting at $32.77
Contact: 714-556-2787, scfta.org
