The California Riverside Ballet is proud to announce that New York City Ballet principals Janie Taylor and Sébastien Marcovici will perform in this year’s Nutcracker ballet.

The perennial favorite will once again be performed at the Fox Performing Arts Center, 3801 Mission Inn Avenue, Riverside, CA. Under the direction of the California Riverside Ballet’s Artistic Director Mario Nugara, Taylor and Marcovici will dance the roles of Sugar Plum and Cavalier.

Janie Taylor was born in Houston, Texas. She began ballet training when she was four years old and by 12 she was being trained at the Giacobbe Academy of Dance. She entered the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of the New York City Ballet, full time in the fall of 1995. In June 1998, she was invited to become an apprentice with New York City Ballet. Just one month later, she became a member of NYCB’s corps de ballet. She was promoted to the rank of soloist in February 2001, and in January 2005, she was promoted to principal dancer. She has danced featured roles in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, as Sugarplum Fairy, Dewdrop, and Marzipan.

Born and raised in Paris, France, Sébastien Marcovici began his ballet training at age eight with local teachers. When he was 12, he enrolled at the School of the Paris Opéra Ballet. During the summer of 1993, while studying with Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride at the Chautauqua School of Dance, Mr. Marcovici was invited by Ballet Master in Chief Peter Martins to take Company class with New York City Ballet at Saratoga Springs. Shortly after, in November of 1993, he was invited to join New York City Ballet’s corps de ballet. He was promoted to the rank of soloist in 1998 and to principal dancer in May 2002. He has danced the featured role of Cavalier in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker.

The Nutcracker will once again be performed to the accompaniment of a live orchestra, under the acclaimed direction of Guest Conductor Scott Dunn. Dunn has been the Associate Conductor of the LA Philharmonic’s Hollywood Bowl Orchestra since 2007 and the California Riverside Ballet’s Music Director since 2010. He is also a distinguished pianist who studied with Byron Janis and made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1999 with Dennis Russell Davies and the American Composers Orchestra.

Tickets, priced from $19-$49, are now on sale through the Fox Performing Arts Center Box Office, (951) 779-9800, or through ticketmaster.com. There will be four performances between Friday, December 9 and Sunday, December 11. Evening performances will take place at 7:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Matinee performances at 1:00 p.m. will be offered on both Saturday and Sunday.