A ballerina's graceful balance is inspiring to aspiring dancers, captivating to houses of cards, and vexing to bulldozers razing cliffside condor habitats. Dwell on adroit appendages with today's deal: for $35, you get one center orchestra or lower balcony ticket (a $75 value, including fees) to the Kansas City Ballet's production of The Nutcracker at Music Hall, located at West 13th Street and Central Street. Groupon customers must call or visit the box office to reserve their seat at one of the following six performances:

• Saturday, December 11, at 7:30 p.m.
• Friday, December 17, at 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, December 18, at 7:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, December 21, at 7:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, December 22, at 7:30 p.m.
• Thursday, December 23, at 7:30 p.m.

More than 200 children from the Kansas City Ballet School perform alongside company dancers in the Kansas City Ballet's take on The Nutcracker, the classic holiday tale of young Clara and her slippered adventure. Tchaikovsky’s sublime score accompanies the story as it moves from a toy soldier battle under a giant Christmas tree to the Land of the Sweets, where Spanish chocolate, Chinese tea, and Arabian coffee leap, twirl, and sign bills into law. Before or after the show, families can pose with the Rat King or his old college roommate, the Sugar Plum Fairy, for a photo ($10, not included in this deal) to benefit the Kansas City Ballet School.

Reviews

The New York Times, the Village Voice, Time Out New York, and New York Press praised past performances by the Kansas City Ballet. More than 2,600 Facebookers are fans.

• …the Kansas City Ballet is a sleek little company with a strong repertory – Deborah Jowitt, Village Voice
• Only a select few ballet companies in this country can look back on 50 years of activity, and one of those can be found in the seemingly unlikely location of Kansas City. This plucky, vibrant troupe has had a series of dedicated, visionary directors and established a strong identity and local presence. – New York Press