
The Nutcracker
Accompanied by the West Texas Symphony
Saturday, Dec 20 & Sunday, Dec 21
at the Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center
Epic battles, lands made of sweets, living toys and even fairies, there’s something for the whole family to enjoy!
By the Community, for the community. for over 30 years.
Final pose of the Waltz of the Flowers
1994 at Allison Fine Arts Center at Midland College

Final pose of the Waltz of the Flowers
2021 at the Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center
Since 1994, The Nutcracker has been a culmination of the community’s effort and talent. While Midland Festival Ballet (MFB) facilitates and coordinates the production, the cast is comprised of students from dance studios all over West Texas. (Midland, Odessa, Andrews, Greenwood, even Big Spring!) Some of the principal roles are filled by guest artists from premiere professional ballet companies across the country. (New York City Ballet, Houston Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Louisville Ballet, Ballet Hispanico, Joffrey Ballet, and San Antonio Ballet just to name a few.) Their presence provides professional dance exposure and mentorship to our students, and undeniably elevates the quality of the performance. Live orchestral accompaniment also takes the production to another level. We are fortunate to have the West Texas Symphony, who has accompanied the production since 1995. All with the help of a small army of volunteers and lot’s of support from the locals keeps the tradition alive. Support your local arts community, and make Midland Festival Ballet’s The Nutcracker a part of you holiday plans.
Guest Artists
Denise Parungao was born in Manila, Philippines where she began her professional career with Ballet Philippines. She soon rose to the rank of principal dancer where her repertory included lead roles in Swan Lake, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, Carmen, and The Nutcracker. Ms. Parungao joined New Jersey Ballet in the spring of 2022 under the direction of Maria Kowroski. Since joining the company, she has danced featured roles in George Balanchine’s Who Cares? and Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain and This Bitter Earth, and was part of the original cast in Harrison Ball’s Purcell Suite.
Ms. Parungao has won awards from the CCP National Ballet Competition, Aliw Awards, and Philstage Gawad Buhay. She was also accepted to compete in the USA International Ballet Competition in 2018. She has taken part in the International Ballet Stars Gala in Australia, Life Chance Gala in support of the people in Ukraine in South Caroline, Okamoto Ballet Festival in Japan, Fonteyn Gala in Arizona, and Asbury Park Dance Festival.
In the summer of 2022, she was a rehearsal mistress and teacher at the Westlake School for the Performing Arts in California. As she starts her second fall season with New Jersey Ballet, she has also joined the faculty of NJB School and Art of Dance in Chester, New Jersey.
Joshuan Vázquez began his dance training in his hometown of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. He trained in Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Urban and Latin Dance with Western Ballet Theater, Ballet Escenario and EMBAE. In 2018, joined the Ballet de Camara de Madrid where he has been featured in many principal and soloist roles of both classical and contemporary works. In 2020, he was a top award winner for his Classical Variation, Contemporary Solo, and “Best” Pas de Deux at Dance Open America’s International Competition. In 2022, Mr. Vázquez joined New Jersey Ballet Company and graduated in Classical Dance Pedagogy (Cuban Technique) at the Alicia Alonso Dance Institute, Rey Juan Carlos Ⅱ University (URJC) in Madrid. In addition, he has performed in festivals such as Festival de la Danza 2019 (San Sebastián de los Reyes, Spain), Festival del Movimiento 2020 & 2021 (San Juan, Puerto Rico) and Asbury Park Dance Festival 2023 (Asbury Park, New Jersey). As a dancer with NJB, Mr. Vázquez has danced After the Rain & This Bitter Earth pas de deux by Christopher Wheeldon, Who Cares by George Balanchine and Hallelujah Junction by Peter Martins among others classical ballets as The Nutcracker, Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty and Don Quixote.
As a guest artist and company dancer, he has danced with Ballet Etudes of Florida, Mauro Ballet Company, Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico, Ballet Arts Dance Company, Charlotte Youth Ballet, Midland Ballet Festival, Tabula Rasa Dance Theater and Ballet Collective.
Within his professional development and training are teachers such as Nana and Mumy Badrena, Iván Monreal Alonso, Lázaro Carreño, Leydi Villalobos, Kelvin Santiago, Wilmaliz Mendret, Elmer Pérez, Armando Seda, Marena Pérez, Victor Gili Mendéz, Galina Alvárez, Deborah Marquéz, Laura Alonso, Martha Bosch, Orlando Salgado, Óscar Torrado, Luba Gulyaeva and Maria Kowroski, among others.
Micah Bullard trained at The Dance Center of Baytown, Texas. He then attended The University of Oklahoma School of Dance where he received his bachelorʼs degree in Ballet Performance, performing Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake and works by Merce Cunningham, Alejandro Cerrudo, Trey McIntyre, Amy Hall Garner, Nilas Martins, and Mary Margaret Holt.
Following graduation, Micah joined Oklahoma City Ballet as an apprentice, where he danced in Michael Pinkʼs Dracula and classical works by Artistic Director Robert Mills.
Micah is currently in his second season with Dance Theatre of Harlem. He has danced works by George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Nacho Duato, Helen Pickett, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Stanton Welch, Robert Garland, and Claudia Schreier.
Jason Cox began his ballet training with Ms. Judith Gani in San Antonio where he performed with many schools and theaters within the city. He began his professional career with Ballet San Antonio in 2013. His most notable roles were as Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker, Bossy Stepsister and Tybalt in Ben Stevenson's Cinderella and Romeo and Juliet. Mr. Cox has been Drosselmeyer in Midland Festival Ballet’s The Nutcracker since 2014, including the film adaptation, The Nutcracker Reimagined.
The Story
At the stroke of midnight, magical things begin to happen! The Christmas tree begins to grow until it fills the room!
The Prince takes Clara on an enchanted journey through the Land of Snow where snowflakes dance around them.
Angels lead Clara and the Nutcracker Prince to the Kingdom of Sweets where the Sugar Plum Fairy presents her subjects:
Where is the performance?
The Wagner Noël Performing Arts Center: 1310 Farm to Market 1788, Midland, TX 79707