Photos by Kellie Hicks
SOUTH COUNTY — The cast of “The Nutcracker Ballet” (above) line up to the applause of the audience in the Robert Stanton Theatre in King City after their performance last weekend, under the direction of Janette Harkness.
Below, 11-year-old Quinn Villanueva (far right), who played the lead character “Clara,” stands with her parents Mark Villanueva and Andreaa Lopez-Villanueva and aunt Tina Merkle (second from right), who also played Clara in that same theater. This was the first time that two family members have played the same part of Clara in the production’s history.
More than 1,200 people attended the 58th annual production of “The Nutcracker Ballet,” which was jointly produced by the Monterey County Dance Foundation and Monterey County Dance Theatre.