Dec. 17-21, Paramount Theatre

If you have little ones among your friends and family and want to take them to a Nutcracker, Oakland Ballet's might be an excellent choice. For one thing, the Paramount Theatre is such a far-out place, it will be sure to get their attention – few theaters exist where an art deco restoration job has been so magnificently and generously realized. Ronn Guidi's 1992 version of Nutcracker is not the most spectacular, but it is wonderfully focused around a child's attention span. There is intimacy and magic, laughter and poignancy, and simply for kids to see so many dancers their own size onstage – and moving the way they might – can be inspiring. The first-act family narrative is not ostentatious, not swamped with a cast of dozens that might be hard for small kids to relate to. These days Oakland Ballet, reborn this past October, dances beautifully. A recent "family program" showed the dancers excellently coached, able to blossom in a varied repertoire. Taking on a classic like Nutcracker is essential for their own development and a pleasant reminder for adults of where ballet came from. Please note that most of these performances are matinees, so if you are working during the day, you may want to enlist some help – or take the afternoon off.

Sat/17-Tues/20, 2 p.m.; Dec. 21, 7:30 p.m., 2025 Broadway, Oakl. $6-$54. (510) 286-8914, www.oaklandballet.org. (Rita Felciano)