From a ballet performance to camps for would-be young dancers, Southern California Ballet has a full roster of upcoming events.

The story of “Cinderella” will be performed April 1 and 2 by SCB for the first time since 2019.

Husband and wife team Toby Batley and Martha Leebolt , co-artistic directors of Southern California Ballet, first choreographed the ballet in 2018.

In a sign of how skilled its older students have become, three Southern California Ballet dancers have been cast in roles often performed by professionals in “The Nutcracker.”

Misha MacGowan and Emilia Wightlin are sharing the role of Snow Queen in seven shows from Dec. 15-18. Zachary Ong is partnering with both girls as the Snow Cavalier during the Christmastime ballet at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts.

For 18-year-old Lily Hofstetter, dancing the lead role in Southern California Ballet’s upcoming “Alice in Wonderland” is a dream come true.

“I didn’t expect it at all,” Hofstetter said. “I’m super excited to dance it. It is more hours in the studio learning choreography. I love it as it is so much fun.

“Alice stays on stage almost the entire ballet,” she explained. “There is not a lot of rest time.”

In what is likely the first time in Southern California Ballet’s more than 35 years, eight members of a family will perform together in its annual presentation of “The Nutcracker.”

The Schultz family of Poway said this is the first and likely only time all eight of them will be in the same show.

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Those not quite ready to attend an in-person performance can catch unique twists on virtual productions, starting with Southern California Ballet.

The Carmel Mountain-based company and ballet school is partnering with Poway OnStage to create a virtual “Nutcracker” field trip for school groups, special needs groups and senior groups.

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“Dancers are making it work,” said Martha Leebolt, co-artistic director of Southern California Ballet. “They are finding ways ... and we are really proud of them.”

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Immediately upon learning Poway Unified School District was suspending classes, SCB faculty started filming themselves doing components of their classes’ syllabuses on March 13. The videos were uploaded on a website so students could practice at home. On March 23, they added live classes via Zoom and now most teachers film from their homes, Leebolt said, with only she and her husband, Toby Batley, filming in the studio. As they got more became familiar with the technology’s capabilities, teachers offered corrections based on what they saw students doing during interactive sessions.

“Having grown up with one of my closest friends (Claire Feth) being part of the community of individuals with disabilities, this is an extremely important program that is very close to my heart,” said Martha Leebolt, SCB artistic director. “Growing up with her was a formative part of my life, and seeing her transition into adulthood helped me understand the difficulties of this stage of both her and many others’ lives.

“This led us to create this program, which I hope will flourish to become something that can enrich everyone’s lives who want to be involved,” Leebolt said.

Martha Leebolt is the co-artistic director of Southern California Ballet, which was awarded a grant to start an adaptive dance program for adults with disabilities, beginning Oct. 9

It was around this time last year when Southern California Ballet was awarded a grant to start a six-week adaptive dance program for adults with disabilities, spearheaded by the dance company’s co-artistic director, Martha Leebolt.

We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve added a new adult class to our programming!

The adult Bollywood/Flamenco class has been running for one month, and a few from our community have enjoyed the benefits of these amazing dance forms.

We wish to congratulate everyone involved in "Enchanted Forest!” This year’s September all-academy performance was outstanding in both production value and the level to which the dancers performed.