Angels, dolls, and fairies rushed across the hardwood floor to huddle in different corners. Calling one group at a time to the center of the room to turn their smiling costumed faces forward was Newtown Centre of Classical Ballet & Voice artistic director Tory Gozzi during a recent dress rehearsal for this year's upcoming holiday performance.

The Centre's Malenkee Ballet Repertoire Company will soon present The Nutcracker Suite on Sunday, December 4, at noon and 2 pm as part of the 31st Annual Holiday Festival. Performances will be in the theater of Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street.

Tickets are $8 at the door or can be purchased online in advance at newtownyouthandfamilyservices.org/Special-Events/Holiday-Festival. The performances are also included in the price of a Holiday Festival ticket. The festival will be presented December 4, from 11 am until 5 pm, along Main Street. In addition to the Nutcracker performances, the festival this year includes a walking tour with three historic Main Street homes and Trinity Episcopal Church, with shuttle service between locations; Gingerbread House contest entries displayed at C.H. Booth Library, 25 Main Street; and Trolley Tours narrated by Town Historian Dan Cruson.

Edmond Town Hall will also be the location for a Holiday Tea (Alexandria Room), and The Festival of Trees, Kids Corner and an interactive trains display (gymnasium). The building will also be the starting point for "Polar Express" rides that will travel south to Booth Library.

Holiday Festival tickets are $12 each, or $25 for a family of four (two adults and two children, with each additional child $5 each).

A Holiday Festival Kick-Off Wine & Beer Tasting is also new this year. That event will take place Saturday, December 3, at Rock Ridge Country Club. Tickets are $40 for an individual, or $75 per couple.

Tickets and details for all of these events are available by calling 203-270-4335 or visiting NewtownYouthAndFamilyServices.org. The Holiday Festival is a major fundraiser for NYFS.

'Nutcracker' Details

Special preview Nutcracker mini-performances are scheduled between 8:30 and 10 am a day earlier - Saturday, December 3 - during Newtown Rotary Club's Annual Pancake Breakfast, in the Alexandria Room of Edmond Town Hall.

NCCB&V Director Tory Gozzi looks forward to the show.

"This year's cast is our largest ever - we have 24 members in our studio company this year," she said. Hers is an auditioned company for dancers ages nine and older, as well as 25 younger guests, "participating as the ever favorite Angels and mini-Chinese Tea this year.

"All the dancers have been working extremely hard since the beginning of September," she added, "and the show is looking great, with a lot of new choreography and fresh scene ideas."

This year the company is "very privileged," Ms Gozzi said, to have Todd Hall participating as the Nutcracker and Cavalier. Mr Hall was trained at the School of American Ballet, Joffrey Ballet and Boston Ballet, and has performed with a number of ballet companies including Boston and Washington.

"The girls have been working intensively on partnering this year, techniquewise and for this show, and I'm excited to present the audience with three beautiful pas de deux, especially the new Clara pas de deux and Sugar Plum Fairy coda," said Ms Gozzi.

Children and parents "have been so great helping me with all of the extra things that go into performance time, from sewing costumes to helping manage rehearsals and building props. This year's production is truly a studio endeavor, and I know it's going to be the best yet," she said.

The cast includes Vianna Schappach, who is playing Clara, and senior Riley Smith is this year's Sugar Plum Fairy. Other featured senior roles include Monique Dubois as Dew Drop Fairy, Elizabeth Delp as Rat Queen and Ribbon Candy lead, and Rebecca Spalvieri as Snow Queen.

Learn more about the ballet company at its website, nccballetandvoice.com.