PORTLAND — Maine State Ballet’s holiday favorite, “The Nutcracker,” will be performed at Merrill Auditorium again this year with the largest cast of performers in the show’s history.

Nearly 300 dancers from the Maine State Ballet and other dance schools will take the stage over the course of seven performances, beginning Saturday, Nov. 26.

“The Nutcracker” features live music by the Maine State Ballet Orchestra, the Musica de Filia Girlchoir and the Westcustogo Youth Chorale. This year marks Linda MacArthur Miele’s 35th as director. She and Jonathan Miele, a former Broadway show dancer, are co-founders of the Maine State Ballet.

Two teenagers from Falmouth, Michael Holden and Elise Bickford, will take center stage as the Nutcracker Prince and Clara. Holden, a junior who has been accepted at the world-renowned School of American Ballet in New York City, has been with the Maine State Ballet since he was 3 years old.

Bickford, a freshman at Falmouth High School, also has the athletic ability, grace and intangibles that she looks for in a lead role, said Miele, a former dancer with the New York City Ballet.

The list of dancers includes 292 individuals, ranging in age from preschool to advanced adult, from 39 towns and cities across southern Maine.

Tchaikovsky’s popular score will be brought to life again this year by the Maine State Ballet Orchestra, conducted by Karla Kelley.

Area residents involved in the production include Phoebe Gouette, Audrianna Prentice and Sara Prentice of Auburn; Paige Gelhar, Sydney Gelhar, Adella Triffin and Inga Yeo of Durham; Hannah Bergeron and Clare Kramer of Lewiston; Madeleine Walker-Elders of Lisbon Falls; Zoe Ward of Lovell; Camille Estes, Rose Howard and Adelynn Splane; Linnea Bradbury of Norway; Calvin Soule and Ezra Soule of Poland; Molly Brown of Turner; and Elise Dekutoski, Hannah Leonard, Nikki Moore and Jasmine Rondeau of Waterford.

Performances will be at 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 26; 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 27; 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2; 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3; and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4.

Tickets, $15-$55, are available through Porttix at 842-0800, online at www.porttix.com or at the Merrill Auditorium box office between noon 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

For more information, call 781-7672 or visit www.mainestateballet.org.