POCATELLO — The Alliance Academy of Dance will be presenting its annual performance of The Nutcracker, guest starring a professional dancer from the Smuin Ballet in San Francisco, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Artistic director Sergiu Brindusa and his wife, Beth Moore, have been bringing the classic ballet to the community of Pocatello for the past 13 years. Though both have starred in the show in the past, Brindusa said this year they will be watching from backstage.

There will also be a new star in the mix. Ryan Camou, a former soloist with the Smuin Ballet in San Francisco, will be guest starring in the role of the prince.

“He’s going to be phenomenal,” Brindusa said. “It will be a fireworks performance. It’s going to throw the audience’s socks right off their feet.”

But Brindusa said he’s proud of all the roughly 130 dancers in the show.

“Particularly as a ballet teacher and as a director of the studio, I am so very, very proud,” he said. “Who wouldn’t want to say, ‘Hey, look at my dancers?’”

According to Brindusa, the dancers train long and hard for this performance, and competition for parts can be fierce.

“The dancers know what’s coming, and they know what kind of pressure they have to deliver,” he said. “I tell them, ‘Your talent is your gift, and your gift is not to keep. It is to give away and share.’”

Brindusa said he has loved seeing the performance and the dancers grow in the many years he has directed the show. Formerly, The Nutcracker was performed by the Brindusa-Moore Ballet Academy. However, the academy merged with the Dana Smith Dance Studio to form the Alliance Academy of Dance. This is the third year the ballet has been performed as Alliance, which has added more diversity to the show.

What hasn’t changed, however, is the show’s place as a beloved community activity.

“Besides the fact that it’s always a successful production, it’s become a very much embraced thing to do in the community,” Brindusa said. “I’m just elated with the notion that my wife and I were able to do this for so long and bring about such holiday joy to so many people.”

This year, there will also be public performances of the show for Pocatello/Chubbuck School District 25, which is something Brindusa said they have done in the past and are resuming.

“This has been just a wonderful run for us, and it’s going to be a fantastic display of talent,” Brindusa said. “The kids performing are so good, and they’re just so excited to be able to have the opportunity to perform. I’m just so thrilled and humbled at the same time. I can’t believe it.”

This year, Brindusa said they have also implemented online ticket purchasing for the first time, which he said has been a wild success.

Tickets can be purchased at tututix.com/AAD until Dec. 12. After that, tickets can be purchased at the door.

Performances will be held at Frazier Hall Auditorium Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

“We want to welcome everybody and remind them that this is a community-oriented presentation,” Brindusa said. “We have a lot to show this year, and it’s a great opportunity for people to come and celebrate the holiday season.