Lake Area Ballet Theatre (LABT) will be back home at the Rosa Hart Theatre this December for its production of “The Nutcracker.”

“Our cast of 150 local dancers from Lake Charles Dance Academy will all beam with delight to dance on this newly renovated stage,” said LABT Director Colleen Benoit. “The renovations are a hurricane recovery milestone for the Southwest Louisiana arts community.”

Benoit established the Lake Charles Dance Academy in 2011 after many years of teaching, performing and training, spending most of her years studying and teaching at the Clarke Dance Center, under the direction of the late Ida Winter Clarke and her daughter Cissie Clarke.

“This faculty and board are dedicated to staging full-scale ballet performances, producing new and innovative works and providing a strong and diverse curriculum for the next generation of dancers,” Benoit said. “Our 2023-’24 season promises to transport you into an enchanted world of dance theatre with our production of “The Nutcracker,” Dec. 7-9.

Public performances are Friday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Dec. 9 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. School performances are Dec. 7-8, with shows beginning at 9 a.m.

 Up next for LABT is “Alice in Wonderland.” Both productions will be held at the Lake Charles Civic Center’s Rosa Hart Theatre.

To become a sponsor, for ticket information or information for school shows, please visit www.lakeareaballettheatre.com.