The Palos Verdes Ballet Company today will...

The Palos Verdes Ballet Company today will present a truly world-class production of the Russian holiday classic “The Nutcracker.”

Although the 12-year-old Palos Verdes Ballet rarely performs outside Los Angeles County, artistic director Fay Gillette has managed to recruit performers from top Russian, French, and New York ballet companies.

Alexander Greschenko of the Moscow Company will dance the role of the Cavalier, Frenchman Paul Maure will lend his lifetime ballet experience to the role of Herr Drosselmeyer, and Russian Rafayel Yermazyan will perform the trademark Russian “character dancing,” leaping and bounding across the stage.

In addition to these established international dancers, the ballet will also feature students from the prestigious School of American Ballet in New York, including 17-year-old Kimberly Jones and 12-year-old Kei Nakajima, who will play the lead role of Marie.

Gillette says the performance is part of an effort to beef up community ballet. “My reason for forming the Palos Verdes Ballet was to bring quality ballet to the community where none really existed before,” she said.

Gillette also hopes that quality ballet will create a new class of ballet aficionados.

“If you can present the classics well enough, then you can appeal to anybody,” she said. “And ‘The Nutcracker’ appeals to people who aren’t really into ballet because it’s a story.”

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the first performance of “The Nutcracker” in czarist Russia. To celebrate, the ballet has added some embellishments to the production, including an enlarged “party scene” in Act I, and a visually dazzling performance in Act II by sixteen 8-to-11-year-old dancers dressed as tiny ceramic angels, replacing the typical stark white costumes.

A sugar plum party will follow the 4 p.m. performance, featuring snacks and a visit by cast members. The cast will appear in full costume after the performance for photos and autographs, and to mingle with the crowd.

The Palos Verdes Ballet will perform “The Nutcracker” at 1 and 4 p.m. today at the Norris Theatre, 27570 Crossfield Drive, Rolling Hills Estates, (310) 544-0403. Tickets are $12.50. The 1 p.m. show has a discount price of $10 for children 12 and younger.