BANGOR – To usher in the Christmas season this Thanksgiving weekend, Russian Maestro Andrei Bossov will bring his troupe to John Bapst Memorial High School auditorium to perform “Nutcracker” at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 28; 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday Nov. 29; and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 30.

Bossov’s “Nutcracker” has drawn sold-out and near-sold-out houses in Waterville since 2000 and will remain a tradition at the Waterville Opera House, Dec. 12-14.

Performers include Stephanie Pouzol of Orrington as the Porcelain Doll.

The program is authentic in that it reflects the classic Vaganova method forged in St. Petersburg, Bossov said.

It was in St. Petersburg that Tchaikovsky composed the score to accompany the ballet that says “Christmas” to millions for the last 100 years, and continues to do so.

It was in St. Petersburg’s Maryinsky Theatre that “Nutcracker” was created and first performed in 1892. And it was at Maryinsky that Bossov trained, danced, choreographed and directed throughout a 20-year international career.

The Maryinsky Theatre, known in the Soviet years as The Kirov, is the home of much of the Russian tradition of dance, from the Winter Palace’s Imperial Ballet of Czarina Anna in 1740 to dancers such as Fokine, Balanchine, Nureyev, Barishnikov and Bossov.

Bossov’s troupe performed at the Maryinsky last February.

A ballet, Bossov said, is the ultimate in unanimity, born of diversity. Dancers, the lighting, stage hands, the costumes – all must come together as a single composition. Every step is choreographed and the entire troupe must train together arduously over many months. Bossov’s dancers have trained together for years, many having studied under him since they were young children of 9 and 10.

Rehearsals for this year’s “Nutcracker” began in early September. Since then, every Saturday plus weekday evenings and many Sundays, Bossov’s studios in Pittsfield, are lit into the night as he barks commands and snaps his fingers for scenes of 20 dancers, or a single duet or a solo.

The cast of 50 takes class daily for months on end, in addition to frequent, full cast rehearsals. Bossov, as a purist, does not compromise.

“All 50 dancers – from the very youngest little ballerina – must come to know and trust each other because, on stage, they are going to work together as one,” he said.

The coming together happens in Bossov’s studio in Pittsfield at Maine Central Insitute, which is noted for sports.

After the Bossov Ballet found a home there, Bill Cowan, a departing football coach invited to give a commencement address, said, “Andrei’s dancers don’t have a season like a sport. They are always in there working every day, all year ’round.”

If the show at John Bapst Memorial High School draws good audiences, Bossov said, the theater will perform its best offerings at Bangor Opera House in March, May and July for a full season.

The Bossov repertoire includes “Cinderella,” “Scheherazade,” “Bolero,” and a premiere of Bossov’s “Esmeralda,” based on Victor Hugo’s “Hunchback of Notre Dame.” The classic scores of Prokofiev, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Ravel and Pugni, Bossov said, lend richeness to the unique art form.

Bossov said he hopes that the years he has invested in his corps of dancers, once seen by the public, will encourage a lasting interest in dance and music.

Tickets for “Nutcracker” may be purchased at The Grasshopper Shop’s The Hop, or by calling 487-6360. The cost is $15, $12 for youth and seniors.