Dance

The final figures are in for the California Ballet’s 1987 “Nutcracker,” and they spell success.

“We grossed over half a million dollars,” said a jubilant Maxine Mahon, director of the 20-year-old ballet company. “It’s the first time we ever grossed that much, and we’re delighted.”

Does that mean the San Francisco Ballet’s imported “Nutcracker” had no effect on ticket sales?

“Some people actually say the San Francisco Ballet helped us by building up audiences,” Mahon said, “but I don’t believe that. I say, if we did not have the competition, we would have sold every seat in the house.

“The real reason for our record sales this year is the fact that we really worked harder than ever--on advertising, and on every phase of ticket sales. It also helped that we did two pre-Christmas shows. We were able to sell more series tickets that way. We’ve sold many more series tickets this year than ever before. In fact, we’ve already sold a lot of tickets for our 20th anniversary gala in May.”