UNCSA will present five performances of The Nutcracker at R.J. Reynolds Auditorium from Dec. 3 through Dec. 6, 2026, bringing the beloved holiday ballet back to the very venue where it premiered sixty years earlier while the Stevens Center undergoes renovation. Tickets begin at $39 before taxes and fees.
The homecoming carries deep roots for the Winston-Salem institution. According to UNCSA, the school's very first Nutcracker was staged at R.J. Reynolds Auditorium on Dec. 10, 1966, by founding School of Dance Dean Robert Lindgren and faculty member Sonja Tyven. As YES! Weekly first reported, the 2026 run marks a full-circle moment for a production that has grown considerably since those early days.
UNCSA says it plans to recognize people who attended that original 1966 performance, including offering them a complimentary ticket to this year's opening night. The school is encouraging former attendees to reach out through its Nutcracker website to be included in that recognition, per the same UNCSA announcement.
A Production Built Across Three Schools
This year's five shows are scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 3, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, Dec. 4, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 5, at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday, Dec. 6, at 1 p.m. The production brings together students from UNCSA's Schools of Dance, Music, and Design & Production, according to the school's event listing, and features choreography by faculty member Ilya Kozadayev.
The current staging was choreographed and directed by Kozadayev in 2021 and drew inspiration from his 2020 film adaptation of the ballet, per UNCSA. The production was then expanded in 2022 to include the complete score, the school's announcement notes. UNCSA's own timeline describes the Nutcracker's evolution from humble beginnings, saying it grew from being pieced together with Halloween costumes, borrowed furniture, and rented sets into what the school calls a state-of-the-art production in which thousands of students have danced over the decades.
Conductor Questions and a Longtime Venue Shift
The Nutcracker score will be performed live by the UNCSA Symphony Orchestra, though UNCSA's own materials differ on who will be on the podium this year. The school's event page states the orchestra will be led by returning Nutcracker conductor Karin Hendrickson, while a separate UNCSA news hub page names Mexican conductor and UNCSA Music alumnus Felipe Tristán as the one leading the ensemble. UNCSA's public materials do not resolve the discrepancy.
The move back to Reynolds Auditorium is itself notable because UNCSA shifted its Nutcracker performances to the Stevens Center back in 1983, where they have been staged for decades since. That venue is now undergoing what UNCSA describes as a comprehensive renovation, prompting this season's temporary return to the production's birthplace.
Sponsor and School Background
This year's production is presented by Flow Automotive, a dealership group that UNCSA's news hub says grew from a single pre-owned center in Winston-Salem after its founding in 1957 into a company with more than 50 dealership locations across North Carolina and Virginia. UNCSA itself was established by the N.C. General Assembly in 1963 and opened in Winston-Salem in 1965, later joining the University of North Carolina system in 1972. The school describes itself as a top-ranked arts conservatory and the nation's only public university offering five arts disciplines on one campus.
The Reynolds Auditorium stop is a temporary detour for a tradition that has, according to UNCSA's own timeline, moved venues, toured, and even been adapted into a film over the years. For families who remember the ballet's earliest Winston-Salem performances, this December offers a rare chance to watch Clara, the Nutcracker Prince, and the Sugar Plum Fairy return to where it all began.
