Hollywood Park and Bancroft elementary schools were selected this year to participate in Sacramento Ballet’s Nutcracker Community Event 2016. 

The selection means students at the two schools — kids who might never see ballet otherwise — will be treated to free tickets and free transportation to the classic holiday show.

In addition, Sac Ballet Artistic Director Ron Cunningham provided a presentation at school assemblies last week called “The Magic of the Nutcracker.”

“The whole thing is a real smile-maker, as Ron engages volunteers from the audience to come up and help him pull a long striped pole out of his top hat, or make it ’snow,’ or don the Nutcracker and Mouse Kingʻs huge masks and act out a duel,” says Co-Artistic Director Carinne Binda. “The kids return to class with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads.”

The schools will also get free tickets to a performance.