December is all about sugar plum visions for Carol A. Radovic, founder and artistic director of Ann Arbor Ballet Theatre. This year, her full-scale production of “The Nutcracker” reaches its quarter-century mark with a Thursday morning show for area school children followed by four performances from Friday through Sunday at the Power Center.

“I can’t imagine not doing it,” Radovic said. “I get so excited about it. It’s a mix of silly little girl’s excitement and dread about what I have to. Thank God, the child in me still lives.”

Radovic loves tinkering with the show each year, changing this and that. “Tea” has become a solo, “Marzipan” a trio, the “Trepak” a duo. But the fundamentals, of both choreography and story, remain the same, with Clara, tormented by her naughty brother Fritz, breaker of the prized Nutcracker doll, enjoying an Act II visit to the Land of Sweets, presided over by the Sugar Plum Fairy (and her handsome Cavalier). This year, in a lovely touch, Clara and Fritz are played by real-life siblings, Molly and William Haig.

Although the show involves mostly students from her school, CAS Ballet Theatre — the youngest pupils, age 4, 5, and 6, play toys under the tree — lead roles draw on talent from the wider community, including graduate students at the University of Michigan.

Watch a slideshow from Ann Arbor Ballet Theatre "Nutcracker" rehearsal:

“We pay about 20 dancers,” Radovic said. Most years, there has been live music, though this year and last, economic conditions have mandated recorded Tchaikovsky. “That’s been a hard pill to swallow,” Radovic said.

But the sweet outweighs the bitter.

At a recent rehearsal, Radovic and her daughter, Kathryn E. Scharp, who is assistant artistic director, passed out Christmas treats to the cast and enjoyed the fruits of their labors as the battle scene between mice and toy soldiers unfolded before them. “Watching the kids’ faces is one of the sweetest things on earth,” said Radovic.

Susan Isaacs Nisbett is a free-lance writer who covers classical music and dance for AnnArbor.com.

AABT performs “Nutcracker” on Friday, December 18 at 8 p.m., Saturday, December 19 at 2 and 8 p.m., Sunday, December 20 at 2 p.m, at the Power Center for the Performing Arts, 121 Fletcher Street. 10 percent of Friday’s house benefits the Humane Society of Huron Valley. Tickets, $24; children under 12, $14; seniors, students with ID and groups of 20 or more, $20. At Ticketmaster outlets and through the Michigan Union Ticket Office, 734-763-TKTS. For more information, call (734) 668-1001. (For information on tickets to Thursday’s 10 a.m. school performance, call Sarah Byers, 734-994-0292.)