FOR THE KIDS : Sugarplum Season : ‘The Nutcracker’ ballet will be danced by the Channel Islands Ballet Company, with music by the Ventura County Symphony.

As sure as Christmas comes every year, so does “The Nutcracker” ballet.

Although it’s 99 years old, the ballet is still an awesome treat for kids. How could it not be? It’s a story about children, magic, a Sugarplum Fairy, a prince, a Mouse King and his army, a Snow Queen--and maybe most spectacular of all--a Christmas tree that grows before your eyes.

No fewer than three productions of the ballet can be seen in Los Angeles next month. But why fight the traffic when you can see a top-flight performance in Oxnard and hear the 60-piece Ventura County Symphony perform Peter Tchaikovsky’s music?

For the 12th year, the symphony, led by Music Director Frank Salazar, and the Channel Islands Ballet Company will present the ballet at the Oxnard Civic Auditorium over two weekends--Dec. 6, 7 and 8, and 13, 14 and 15.

Those who think that they know every pirouette and arabesque of the ballet are in for a surprise. The ballet company’s new artistic director, Emilka Hulova, has re-choreographed the Channel Islands “Nutcracker.”

“It’s completely different,” said Hulova, who took on the job only three months ago. “I’ve been working 18 hours a day, including Sundays, since I got here. . . . It’s been nonstop.”

Ventura County Symphony Executive Director Karine Beesley said that under Hulova’s direction, the local production’s choreography has moved from traditional to more contemporary.

Hulova’s own dancing career dates back to age 5, when she began taking lessons in New York City. As a professional, she was a soloist with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet and guest artist with several companies here and abroad.

When she was 32, a knee injury forced her to turn to teaching and choreography. For the last 18 years, she has held several jobs all over the country. Most recently, she worked in Atlanta, where she was commissioned to choreograph a ballet in commemoration of the Mozart Bicentennial.

Hulova succeeded Selma Lamb as artistic director for “The Nutcracker” here, and also succeeded her as owner of Channel Islands Ballet Academie in Oxnard, which supplies most of the local dancers for the production.

The story of “The Nutcracker” is still the same. It is set on Christmas Eve at the Silberhaus home in Germany around the turn of the century. The Silberhaus children, Clara and Fritz, are anxiously waiting for the family’s Christmas party to begin.

During the party, the children’s uncle, the eccentric Drosselmeyer, gives Clara a special gift, a nutcracker doll. At the party’s end, Clara falls asleep on the sofa in the living room. Her dream is the heart of the ballet.

“It’s going to be spectacular,” Beesley said. “It’s vastly different.”

For one thing, viewers can expect a newcomer to the production--a dragon that appears in the second act. The creature is propelled by people hidden inside its body.

In the famous party scene, more dancers in roles as mechanical dolls have been added, Beesley said. She also expects the battle scene, with a cannon that actually fires, to include more onstage action than in years past.

Angela Junck, 12, of Ojai will dance the role of Clara for the fourth year. She will share the role with Leah Langelier, 14, of Oxnard, who will dance the matinee performances.

Other Ventura County soloists include Natasha Saum of Camarillo and Danah Bella of Ventura. Don McMahon, a local actor, returns this year as Drosselmeyer.

Also returning as special guest artists are Diana Kettler and James Dunne, both of whom have danced with ballet companies worldwide. Other guest professionals include Andreas Folsom, Linda Strangio- Hedberg and John John Ivery.

The ballet is long--2 1/2 hours-- plus one intermission. The matinees are generally packed with children dressed in their holiday finest.

“We encourage people to bring children, but not if they are less than 4 or 5 years old,” Beesley said.

WHERE AND WHEN:

“The Nutcracker” ballet will be performed jointly by the Channel Islands Ballet Company and the Ventura County Symphony at the Oxnard Civic Auditorium, 800 Hobson Way. It will run 8 p.m. Dec. 6 and 7, 3 p.m. Dec. 8, 8 p.m. Dec. 13 and 14, and 3 p.m. Dec. 15. Tickets are $10 to $23, available at Ticketmaster, 583-8700, or at the symphony office in Ventura, Video Tyme in Ventura, the civic auditorium or the Channel Islands Ballet Academie in Oxnard.

OTHER KID DOINGS:

* Actors for Children will do its zany production, “In Other Words,” Dec. 5, 3:30 p.m., at the Orvine S. Carpenter Community Center, 550 Park Ave., Port Hueneme. The program, sponsored by the Port Hueneme Parks and Recreation Department, is free.

* Illusions Theatre in Ojai is performing “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” at the Ojai Center for the Arts, 113 Montgomery St., on Dec. 7, 8, 14 and 15; Saturday shows are 2 and 4 p.m. and Sundays are 4 p.m. Tickets are $6, $3.50 for children under 12 and senior citizens. Tickets available at the Table of Contents bookstore in Ojai and Adventures for Kids in Ventura.

* Kids’ novelist Brian Jacques, author of the “Redwall Trilogy,” will be at Adventures for Kids, 3457 Telegraph Road, Ventura, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday to sign his new book, “Seven Strange and Ghostly Tales.” For information, call 650-9688.

* John Archambault, author of “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom,” will be at Adventures for Kids on Monday from 9:30 to 11 a.m.