The city's professional ballet company pushed its beloved
Nutcracker up more than a couple notches this year. Live musicians played the lovely Tchaikovsky score, and flesh-and-blood singers from the Tucson Boys Chorus warbled the AH-ah-AH-ah-ahs in the Snow Scene. Even better, the troupe deployed its fine new professional dancers, along with scores of well-trained kids. The local pros were to be complemented in a couple of performances by guest stars from American Ballet Theater, but a family emergency kept the ABTers in New York. So in the best showbiz tradition, locals Jenna Johnson and Daniel Precup stepped into their sugar-plum shoes, and danced dazzlingly.
Runners up:
2. Nightlight, FUNHOUSE Movement Theater
3. ZUZI! Dance Company (no specific performance)