The Nutcracker, Fort Vancouver–Inspired — Columbia Dance at Skyview Concert Hall

Buy tickets online on Columbia Dance's Arts People page or at the door; tickets are non-refundable. A livestream option is sold for the 5 pm shows.

Get alerts for this listingAn email if the date, time or place changes, it’s cancelled or sells out, or registration opens. Plus a reminder the day before.

Notify me

Or get a push on your phoneSave this listing in the free app. It’ll notify you about time or place changes, cancellations, sell-outs, when registration opens, and the day before.

About this adventure

Columbia Dance, the Vancouver dance school and company, stages a Nutcracker set in 1840s Fort Vancouver, with four performances at Skyview Concert Hall on the weekend before Christmas. The ballet keeps Tchaikovsky's score, tutus and a holiday party, but the party is in the Chief Factor's dining room at the fort, with historically based guests such as a family from Scotland, a couple from Hawaii and a British naval lieutenant. Dr. John McLoughlin brings in a fur trapper whose tales spark young Cecilia Douglas's dream, which brings beavers stealing a top hat and fighting fur trappers, dancing wapato plants, a mystical woman conjuring an abalone moon and Oregon Trail children arriving by covered wagon. The company has worked with historians, local tribes and Fort Vancouver staff on the story since 2019, and students from Level 1A up dance in it, with sets by scenic artist Thyra Hartshorn and costumes by Christine Darch. Shows are at 1 and 5 pm on Saturday and Sunday and last about two hours, including a 20-minute intermission; the 5 pm shows are also livestreamed for viewing at home. A sensory-friendly performance plays the evening before. Tickets are non-refundable and, if sold out online, are likely still available at the door.