The Ballet Theatre of Central Pennsylvania is bringing The Nutcracker to the State College Area High School North Auditorium tomorrow through Sunday.

The traditional holiday ballet will feature a less traditional adaptation that will focus more on the original German story than the more familiar ballet adaptation.

The dancers will perform under the supervision of Alex Hill, the managing director of the Ballet Theatre of Central Pennsylvania and executive director of the Arts Conservatory of Central Pennsylvania.

"Our [performance] is similar to all the others, except there is a different emphasis," Hill said. "There is more dramatic continuity in our performance."

The "dramatic continuity" of the ballet comes from the faithfulness to E.T.A. Hoffmann's original 1816 publication The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.

Rather than take the story line from the traditional ballet production composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the Ballet Theatre of Central Pennsylvania performance will pay tribute to Hoffmann's work and put more emphasis on the original plot than is customary in most performances of The Nutcracker, Hill said.

"It ranks as one of the great ballets," he said. "It's also a great story."

The production will have a local flavor, as it traditionally has drawn families from the State College area, Hill added.

In addition to the local crowd, the performance features students from all levels of education who are members of the Arts Conservatory.

The Nutcracker has been a holiday staple of the area since 1996, as it has been performed at State College Area High School every December except last year, Hill said.

State College Area High School student Carrie Kroeker will play the Sugar Plum Fairy in the production. She is a veteran of the tradition, having been a member of the Arts Conservatory for eight years.

"Rehearsals take up a lot of time," Kroeker said. "But before Christmas, it's the biggest thing for me, preparing for the performance."

Anthony Zangara (senior-nuclear engineering), a two-year Arts Conservatory performer, will play the part of Drosselmayer.

He said the cultural aspect of the ballet is important, as well.

"People can expand their cultural backgrounds," Zangara said. "A lot of people I talk to haven't even seen it."

Teresa Moeck, a student at Park Forest Middle School, plays Marie in the production, and has been a part of the Arts Conservatory for three years.

"Everyone looks forward to it," Moeck said of the Christmas production. "It's a good thing to get involved with and it's important to show everyone how motivated we are."

The three young thespians have been working on the ballet for months, but it is all in the name of the holidays.

"It's really special," Kroeker said. "It's such a big part of the Christmas season. It's also really fun."