Wabash Valley College and the Wabash Valley College Foundation will present "The Children's Nutcracker" in two performances, at 9:30 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 7, in the Brubeck Arts Center Theatre for area school children.

This performance by the Children's Center for Dance Education will delight theatre patrons of all ages. The costuming, music, and storyline are the same as those of The Nutcracker Ballet, but the abbreviated version is especially intended to appeal to families and younger children.

Featuring a stage full of ballerinas, dancing dolls, angels, some bon-bons, toy soldiers and horsemen, mice, sheep, snowflakes, flowers, and other amazing creatures, "The Children's Nutcracker" is a one-hour-long adaptation of the full-length ballet based on the novel by E.T.A. Hoffman, The Nutcracker and the King of Mice.

Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky was commissioned to write the music for the original ballet in 1891. The work was first performed on Dec. 17, 1892, and is now a popular holiday tradition with young and old.

Children's Center for Dance Education is a not-for-profit organization formed to introduce the children of not only the metropolitan tri-state area, but also the rural counties of Southwestern Kentucky, Southern Indiana, and Southern Illinois, to the experience of dance through outreach performances, professional dance exposure, and tuition scholarships to the school.

Children's Center for Dance Education was founded on the belief that all children, regardless of race, creed, or color, should have the opportunity to dance expressively in a safe, non-competitive environment, which fosters self-expression, a healthy body, confidence, and self-discipline.

Their mission is to introduce the arts to underserved communities, and with their programs, foster an understanding of different racial and cultural backgrounds, both in the students performing and in their young audiences.

Deena Laska, Artistic Director of CCDE, trained at the Julliard School of Music in New York City and received her Bachelor's of Fine Arts degree from Indiana University. She has been with CCDE since its incorporation in 1995.

Her professional experience as a principal ballerina with the State of Israel Ballet Company and as an artistic director with other dance companies gives CCDE unequalled professionalism in all areas of program development.

Children's Center for Dance Education is funded in part by the Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana and the Indiana Arts Commission.

Wabash Community Unit District 348 students, grades 1-6; St. Mary's students, grades 1-5; Allendale students, grades 1-5; and Grayville students, grades 3-5, will be attending the performances.

The performances are presented free of charge to the students. The Series is funded by grants from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, the City of Mt. Carmel, the Wabash Valley College Foundation Fund for the Performing Arts, and the Wabash Valley Arts Council.