The Nutcracker Returns to Reno

Published December 19, 2025

The Nutcracker Returns to Reno

This weekend, A.V.A. Ballet Theatre and the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra will be hosting more than 6,000 people for The Nutcracker at the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts. This holiday classic is the most popular ballet in the world.

What makes this ballet so beloved? For me, it’s a myriad of reasons. By the end of the show, I’m all smiles and one look around the Pioneer Center tells me the audience feels the same. No one ever leaves The Nutcracker in a bad mood.

The Nutcracker story begins at the home of the Stahlbaum family. It’s Christmas Eve and friends and family are gathering for a celebration. One of the guests is Herr Drosselmeyer. Christopher Young will debut in Reno his role as Drosselmeyer. Born in San Mateo, California, Young received his dance formation at the San Francisco Ballet School. In 1988 he joined Boston Ballet II for one season. In 1989, he became a member of Ballet West in Salt Lake City under the direction of John Hart. A versatile artist, Young was promoted to soloist in 1994, dancing numerous lead roles both in classical and contemporary repertoire. Such roles include Romeo in Michael Smuin’s Romeo and Juliet, Prince Florimond in The Sleeping Beauty, the Prince in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella, the Grand Pas de Deux in Willam Christensen’s The Nutcracker and Armand in Val Caniparoli’s The Lady of the Camellias. During a period of ten years at Ballet West, he made his mark as a lead dancer in many outstanding works by world renowned choreographers.

Drosselmeyer is a toymaker, magician, and godfather to one of the children—Clara. Clara is being performed by local dancer Evie Pullman. Now an 8^th grader and straight-A student at St. Albert the Great Catholic School, Pullman continues to balance her love of learning with her deep passion for dance. She has been dancing with the Conservatory of Movement since she was just three years old, training under the loving and foundational instruction of Miriam Allen who has been an important part of her life for more than a decade.

Drosselmeyer gives each of the children a present. He has a special gift for Clara—a Nutcracker designed as a small soldier. She immediately falls in love with it but is saddened when her jealous brother, Fritz, breaks the toy. Clara turns to Drosselmeyer for comfort and he repairs the Nutcracker with a handkerchief.

When the time comes for everyone to leave the party, Clara is distraught that she must leave her Nutcracker by the tree for the night. Not able to sleep without one more look at the Nutcracker, she tiptoes back into the living room and cradles the soldier in her arms. Soon sleep overcomes her.

In A.V.A. Ballet Theatre artistic director Alexander Van Alstyne’s version of The Nutcracker, Drosselmeyer works his magic and everything in Clara’s world changes. Her cherished Nutcracker becomes a live soldier. Alongside fellow soldiers, he fights the fierce Mouse King and his dancing mice. The action on the stage is chaotic as the battle is fought. In the end, the Nutcracker emerges victorious.

To Clara’s surprise, the Nutcracker has become a handsome Prince. Dennis Teolis will be performing as the prince. Denny began his formal ballet training in 2016 at the age of 7. From 2017-2022, Denny was a member of the Macomb Ballet Company, a preprofessional ballet company in Shelby Township, Michigan. During his time with MBC, he performed in a variety of full-length ballets including: The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and The Little Mermaid. In 2022, at the age of 14, Denny joined Ballet West Academy’s Professional Training Division under the direction of director Evelyn Cisneros-Legate along with mentorship and outstanding training with Jeff Rogers. With BWA, Denny has performed in the roles of Bluebird and Prince Siegfried. Denny also performed in America's first Nutcracker with Ballet West, under the artistic direction of Adam Sklute in the roles of Butler and Mouse Minion. In 2025, Denny was awarded the Bruce Marks Scholarship through Ballet West and the Honorable Distinction Award through BBSI.

The prince invites Clara to join him on a journey to the Land of the Sweets. Along the way, they meet the Snow Queen and King. The Snow Queen is being portrayed by Sarah Lusetti. Born in Reno, Nevada, Sarah Lusetti began her training at Nevada Dance Academy with Diane Guest-Hoff and performed with the A.V.A Ballet Theater, Nevada Dance Company, and other local organizations. At 15 she moved to Indianapolis to further her training under Pollyana Ribeiro and Robert Moore before being accepted to the San Francisco Ballet School. Following her graduation from the school, she was selected to continue her career with the San Francisco Ballet as a trainee, performing and touring alongside the company in performances of Manon, Nutcracker, A Midsummer Nights’ Dream, and the Company’s tour of Swan Lake in Madrid, Spain. Currently on scholarship as a trainee at Ballet West, Sarah has spent summers training with Houston Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, and Royal Danish Ballet.

The Snow King is being danced by Pieter Gunning. Gunning is from Amsterdam, The Netherlands. At age fourteen, he started his training at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. After three years of study in The Netherlands, he continued his dance education in Germany. He was accepted into the upper levels of the Hamburg Ballet School under the artistic direction of John Neumeier.

While studying in Hamburg, Gunning was given the opportunity to choreograph and present his creations on stage. From that, he was selected to represent the Hamburg Ballet School in the Young Creation Award 2021 at Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland. After his graduation, he was offered a contract with Orlando Ballet II in Florida. After completing two years in Orlando, he joined Ballet West as a Trainee. He has since been promoted to be a member of Ballet West II.

Gunning will be performing the roles of ‘Snow King' and 'Arabian' as a courtesy of Ballet West and Ballet West Academy.

Once Clara and the Prince arrive at the Land of the Sweets, they meet the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier. The Sugar Plum Fairy is being danced by Lexi McCloud. McCloud is from North Salt Lake, Utah. She joined Ballet West II in 2022 and Ballet West in 2024. She trained at MOGA Conservatory of Dance under the direction of Misa Oga. McCloud was awarded the Senior Bronze Medal at the 2022 Youth America Grand Prix International Finals. She was named the Grand Prix Winner at the 2022 YAGP Seattle Semi-Finals. Also in 2022, she was one of the 20 finalists at the Prix de Lausanne. McCloud was awarded first place in the classical division at the YAGP Salt Lake City Semi-Finals in 2019, 2020, and 2021.

The Cavalier is being performed by David Huffmire. Huffmire was born in Carson City and raised in Reno. He was introduced to ballet through his sister, Lauren. As a child, he would spend many hours watching her at dance classes. At the age of six, he auditioned for A.V.A. Ballet Theatre’s The Nutcracker and was cast as a soldier. After that experience, he realized he wanted to be a dancer and began taking jazz, tap, musical theater, and ballet classes. At the age of 11, he began taking classes at the Conservatory of Movement with Van Alstyne as his instructor. “I knew right away he had a special talent,” Van Alstyne said. “He has the gift of natural ability and the discipline to work hard.”

By his teen years, Huffmire was getting serious about his ballet training. He attended “summer intensives” at both Ballet West and the San Francisco Ballet where he went through rigorous ballet training. Throughout this period, he danced in dozens of ballets with A.V.A. Ballet Theatre. Some of those performances include Colin in The Secret Garden, the prince in The Nutcracker, and as a bluebird in Sleeping Beauty. After graduating from Galena High School, he was offered a trainee position with Ballet West—which he happily accepted. Soon after, he was promoted to a member of the second company of Ballet West. During this time, he would come home to Reno and dance with A.V.A. Ballet Theatre in major roles such as the Snow King in The Nutcracker, The Mer King in The Little Mermaid and the featured male performer in the rock ballet Vortex during Artown.

At 20 years of age, Huffmire joined Ballet West’s first company and worked his way through the ranks as an apprentice, a new artist, and has been a member of the corps de ballet for the last three years first as a soloist and now a principal. Now 27, Huffmire trains five to six hours a day—not including rehearsal time for Ballet West performances. Last year, he graced the Pioneer stage for A.V.A. Ballet Theatre’s The Nutcracker and this past September was the Prince in The Little Mermaid. I’m looking forward to seeing him perform again.

The Sugar Plum Fairy summons her subjects to perform for Clara and the Prince. Those entertainers include Spanish dancers, Mirlitons, Ukrainian acrobats, Chinese dragon, the irrepressible Mother Ginger and her children, and the mysterious Arabians. The Arabians are also being performed by Petkovic and Gunning.

The popular Chinese dragon is returning to the Pioneer stage after its debut in 2019. The “Waltz of the Flowers” is probably my favorite dance in The Nutcracker. It is danced by the corps de ballet of A.V.A. Ballet Theatre. The lead waltz is performed by Julia Zorio, a 16-year-old senior at Bishop Manogue High School. The waltz is followed by the most famous dance in the ballet—the performance by the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier.

The ballet ends with the cast dancing around Clara and the Prince who have been crowned the rulers of the Land of Sweets. Tchaikovsky’s score to this ballet will be performed by the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Laura Jackson.

I hope you will join me at the Pioneer Center. I promise it’ll make you smile too.

Steve Trounday is a board member at A.V.A. Ballet Theatre, the resident ballet company of the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts. The holiday classic The Nutcracker will be performed with the Reno Phil December 19-21.