BATON ROUGE - The Baton Rouge Ballet Theater dancers have been rehearsing for this weekend for a long time.

"This is The Nutcracker's first time back in the theater and we are--excited is not the right word," Christine Perkins said.

The last time The Nutcracker: A Tale From the Bayou graced this stage was 2017.

"We haven't been in the theater for five years. This is a fully renovated theater. There were several years of renovation, then there was COVID, then there was a hurricane, and so we just missed the opening last year."

The production incorporates the timeless ballet with a Cajun twist.

"Nutcracker: A Tale From the Bayou is so iconic for a Louisiana theme. We have all these different sets, and props, and magic that we haven't been able to use in five years."

Special sets, costumes and themes punctuate the plies and pirouettes being seen for the first time on the stage it was meant to be performed.

"This is where this performance was designed to be danced so it's like coming home. It's a homecoming for the Baton Rouge Ballet Theater."