Professional ballet dancer Elizabeth Voiles is a Bend native who grew up dancing at Central Oregon School of Ballet. About a year ago, she and husband Josh Deininger, also a professional dancer, moved to Bend from Helena, Montana, where they’d been dancing at the Queen City Ballet. When not serving as guest artists with dance companies around the West, the two teach at Central Oregon School of Ballet, where she studied as a girl. This weekend, they star as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Nutcracker Prince in the school’s annual production of “The Nutcracker.”

Performances are at 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday, at Bend High School, 230 NE Sixth St. Tickets are $24 and $12 at the door. Advance tickets are $20 for adults, $10 students 12 and under, plus fees, at centraloregonschoolofballet.com.

Q: How many times have you been in “The Nutcracker”?

A: Oh my goodness — I believe over 20 times, for sure. It’s definitely very popular.

Q: What was the earliest role you played in it?

A: The first role was actually a mouse in “The Nutcracker,” which is the very beginning level role that a dancer can have at Central Oregon School of Ballet.

Q: Did you know right away that you would one day dance professionally, or did you just keep going because you enjoyed it?

A: Well, actually, the first ballet I ever saw was “The Nutcracker.” … I was absolutely enchanted with the Sugar Plum Fairy, but the real reason I wanted to dance in it was because I wanted to be Clara — she got to keep all the presents. So yeah, I started dancing, and I was probably about 8 years old when I decided it needed to be a life’s dedication.

Q: Did you move on to study at college?

A: My core training was with Sarah and Zygmunt (Sawiel, directors of COSB), and I attended a lot of summer programs with the Boston Ballet and Kirov ballet academy. Then I actually did do a little bit of college dance at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, but then I decided on a whim, actually, to audition for Ballet Chicago, and I was accepted with a full-ride scholarship, so I finished my training with Ballet Chicago and continued on as a professional from there.

Q: What do you think is the enduring appeal of “The Nutcracker”?

A: It’s a ballet for everyone. It has a little bit of everything. It has beautiful music, lovely costumes. There are dancers of all ages. … You get to see what the little ones can become if they continue pursuing it. There’s also a battle scene, so, you know, there’s something for the boys, and a snow scene for the skiers. So you can kind of just take your pick.

—David Jasper, The Bulletin