For the 24th consecutive year, the Rocky Mountain Dance Theatre will present The Nutcracker ballet in Cody.

Randy Pacheco and Sasha Vincett will return in December as the guest artists, performing the roles of the Cavalier and the Sugar Plum Fairy. Pacheco and Vincett are both soloists for Ballet Arizona in Phoenix. Pacheco is from Camaguey, Cuba and has been dancing with Ballet Arizona since 2015. Vincett is from Spring Grove, Pennsylvania and has been with Ballet Arizona since 2007.

Rocky Mountain Dance Theatre (RMDT) is a local nonprofit performing arts organization that produces this annual ballet — one that has become a holiday tradition for many in the area. Every year their production of The Nutcracker offers members of the community, regardless of dance instruction, an opportunity to participate in and contribute to a classical theatre experience. Open auditions are held every spring and casting is announced during the summer. Weekly rehearsals begin in September where every role learns specific steps, formations, and staging choreographed to Tchaikovsky’s famous score.

Participating in The Nutcracker provides experience and interaction with peers as well as professionals in dance and theatre, such as lighting and stage designers, and guest artists from prestigious dance companies across the country. RMDT says The Nutcracker is the only performance in the area offering youth this type of exposure to the arts.

“The cast and crew work hard to ensure that The Nutcracker is of professional grade and entertaining for all to enjoy,” RMDT says.

Dates for 2021 performances are Saturday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 12, at 2 p.m. at the Wynona Thompson Auditorium in Cody, Wyoming. Tickets can be purchased online at rockymountaindancetheatre.org/nutcracker/, or at The Thistle and Cody  Country Chamber of Commerce in Cody.