Vashon Allied Arts Center for Dance will once again twirl to life the magic of the holiday classic “The Nutcracker,” beginning Friday and running through Sunday at the Vashon High School theater.

Under the direction of VAA Director of Dance Christine Juarez, the ballet is one of the marquee performances for Juarez’s program. In a recent press release, Juarez described “The Nutcracker” as a rite of passage for her students.

“Six-year-olds start as mice, then move up to little dolls at 7, then petite chefs and so on,” Juarez said. “It’s a really solid educational tool. … Students already have a vision of what the performance should be from previous years and can work toward that image in their heads. … It’s (also) not lost on me that we’re creating childhood memories that will last a lifetime.”

This will be the first time Juarez’s cast of 80 students will perform “The Nutcracker” on the VHS stage, and Juarez said the dancers are excited by the new and larger venue. A seasonal tap number choreographed by VAA dance staff member Crissy Baker will open the show. Juarez will reintroduce a previously performed section of the ballet in which Clara (Mackenzie Shore) and the Nutcracker (Josiah Sprute-Boyajian) meet the Sugar Plum Fairy (Maeve Haselton). The duo retell — through dance — their adventures from previous scenes. The Sugar Plum Fairy in return presents a festival of dance — with the addition of the Arabian and Spanish king (Quinn McTighe) — which reprises choreography from the second act.

Evening performances will be held at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Full performance matinees will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. A narrated children’s matinee will be at 1 p.m. Friday. Tickets are available at VAA.