This year marks the 52nd production of the Ballet Guild of the Lehigh Valley-Pennsylvania Youth Ballet annual “Nutcracker.”

In this unprecedented year of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandermic, Ballet Guild of the Lehigh Valley President Jennifer L. Altemose, the Board of Directors and Ballet Guild of the Lehigh Valley Artistic Director Karen Kroninger Kner endeavored to bring the beloved holiday classic to audiences in a new and safe way.

“The Nutcracker at Zoellner,” a videotaping of the ballet, is a collaboration with the Ballet Guild, Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh University, and WFMZ-TV-MBC Teleproductions that is available for streaming, 2 p.m. Dec. 19 and for viewing until Jan. 1.

In a Zoom interview, Knerr and Altemose say that they decided to produce a videotaped “Nutcracker” because the arts are so necessary during trying times.

“We felt if there was a way we could [do it] safely for all involved, we were going to move forward with this production,” says Knerr.

“We did successfully hold a six-week summer intensive program. Students were in the studio dancing on June 29. After we completed that, it gave us a little more confidence to say there’s a way we can do this safely,” Knerr says.

It was important to Knerr to give dancers the opportunity to perform this year, especially the high school seniors.

“We’re so thrilled to be doing something for our students, our dancers, for their mental health, as a kind of normalcy during this time,” says Knerr.

“As a teacher and director, I see them working harder than ever. I think they realize how important it is, to be able to continue to do what they love,” Knerr says.

The ballet was professionally taped and edited to showcase the talented Pennsylvania Youth Ballet students and principal dancers from the Pennsylvania Ballet. The taped streaming event includes a “Behind the Scenes” segment “that will reveal some of the magic” of the production.

The “Nutcracker” cast consists of more than 60 professional, pre-professional and student performers.

Guests artists are Oksana Maslova as Sugar Plum Fairy, principal dancer with Pennsylvania Ballet; Sterling Baca as the Cavalier, principal dancer with Pennsylvania Ballet; Tevin Johnson as Candy Cane Lead-Harlequin, scholarship award winner of the Alvin Ailey Professional Division Summer Dance Intensive; Garritt McCabe as Snow King, second company member with Pennsylvania Ballet and alumni of Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, and Lloyd Boyd as Arabian Lead, touring with Bad Boys of Ballet, Ailey II, and The MET Opera.

Student dancers include Ava Baraket playing Clara, of Catasauqua, age 12, 7th grade student at St. Elizabeth Regional School; Olivia Lovell playing Snow Queen, of Breinigsville, age 17, senior at Parkland High School, and Alexia Dice playing Dew Drop, of East Greenville, age 17, senior at Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts.

There will be new choreography, including expanded Snow and Flower Corps.

Dancers have been rehearsing with face masks and adhering to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Pennsylvania Department of Health COVID-19 social distancing protocol.

“They enter one door and exit another door,” says Knerr. “We have hand-sanitizing stations upon entering and leaving the building. We rehearse in small groups.”

The production crew tackled the challenging logistics by experimenting with camera angles to learn what works best to present the most appealing perspective for viewers. The show was taped in segments instead of from beginning to end.

“We are so fortunate to be partnering with WFMZ-TV-MBC Productions,” says Altemose.

“We have three cameras filming, so the audience will get a view of this production that they don’t normally get when they just sit in one seat,” Altemose says.

Altemose says there was the possibility of streaming a past BGLV “Nutcracker” performance taped from one angle at the back of Baker Hall, Zoellner Arts Center.

“But we wanted to do something different. We wanted to take lemons and make lemonade,” says Altemose.

In addition to the public streamed performance premiere, there are free performances to select school districts starting Dec. 14, with a Nutcracker Educational Guide included in the stream. To date, 7,500 students from 18 schools are scheduled to watch the performance. It is free of charge to schools.

School districts and schools signed up to see the BGLV “Nutcracker” include: Easton Area School District, East Penn School District, Bethlehem Area School District, Allentown School District, Parkland School District, Palisades Area School District, Whitehall-Coplay School District, Saucon Valley School District, Pen Argyl School District, Lehigh Valley Academy, Moravian Academy, Roberto Clemente Charter School, St. Michael’s School, St. Anne’s School, St. Anne’s School Bethlehem, The Swain School. Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts, and Dover, N.J., School District.

“I’ve heard from school districts that have never been able to come and see this production because of transportation or distance,” says Altemose. “I have emails from superintendents and teachers who are saying, ‘Thank you so much for doing this.’”

Because of COVID-19 restrictions, the renowned 48-piece orchestra, The Southside Sinfonietta, under the direction of Eugene Albulescu of Lehigh University, will not accompany the “Nutcracker” this year. The Ballet Guild plans to return to live music for next year’s production.

“This production is really special,” says Altemose. “It’s not live, and everybody’s sad that we won’t have our live orchestra. However, we’ve done things to make it special.”

The cameras will provide close-ups of dancers during the performance and will go behind the scenes, showing how certain special effects are achieved, such as the Snow Scene. There will also be a question and answer segment where dancers answer questions submitted by Bethlehem Area School District students.

“Most importantly, we decided instead of pretending we’re not in the middle of a pandemic, let’s embrace the fact that we’re doing this safely,” says Altemose.

“Let’s show everybody that if you follow guidelines and you’re disciplined, you can keep doing things that are important to you,” Altemose says.

The entire cast will perform wearing face masks. The costume designer matched costumes to corresponding face masks, 132 in all.

“It’s not last year’s ‘Nutcracker.’ This is all-new,” says Altemose. “In many ways, it’s going to be a milestone in our 52-year history, showing that we persevered.

“We’re proud that we’ve been able to manage it. It has not been easy by any stretch. There was no road map on how to do this,” Altemose says.

The Ballet Guild wasn’t able to count on revenue normally received through ticket sales this year. The collaboration between the producing partners made it possible.

“Zoellner Arts Center, our donors, and sponsors made great contributions to make this happen,” says Altemose.

At $20 per device, an entire household can watch the “Nutcracker” performance, which can be viewed until Jan. 1, giving families the opportunity to watch together at a convenient time.

“We want everybody to be able to afford it,” says Altemose. “We hope to bring joy and beauty into their homes.”

Ballet Guild of the Lehigh Valley “Nutcracker” tickets: go.lehigh.edu/tickets; 610-758-2787, ext. 0