Saint Louis Ballet: The Nutcracker

Saint Louis Ballet: The Nutcracker at Anheuser-Busch Performance Hall At Touhill Performing Arts Center

Some holiday traditions are worth leaving the couch for. On December 23, 2026, Saint Louis Ballet brings The Nutcracker to the Anheuser-Busch Performance Hall at Touhill Performing Arts Center in St. Louis, with a 7:00 PM curtain. It is a fairy-tale journey told through dance, and it arrives just as the season hits full stride. No screen can give you that moment when the lights dim and the story begins in front of you.

This is Saint Louis Ballet's own Nutcracker, presented under Gen Horiuchi's production identity. That matters. You are not settling for a generic holiday outing. You are choosing a specific company's take on a story people return to year after year, performed live in St. Louis. Tchaikovsky's ballet music is part of what makes the work feel like Christmas itself, and the dancing carries the magic from scene to scene. Expect storytelling without a word of dialogue, where movement does the talking and the emotion lands all the same.

Think of it as a night out built around anticipation. Pick the people you want beside you, whether that is family, a friend or a date, and give the week before Christmas a shared memory that is more than gift wrap and errands. A ballet evening gives everyone a reason to dress up, slow down and watch something beautiful unfold together. If your holiday calendar needs one event that feels special, this is it. Find your seats for Saint Louis Ballet's The Nutcracker at Touhill and make the plan official.