It’s Christmas Eve. A girl is given a wooden nutcracker. She falls asleep; suddenly, she’s transported into another world, where toys are as tall as humans, mice rebel against their king, and flowers are free to waltz. Every December, the story gets told anew: At dance companies around the world, Nutcracker season whirls in.
The Nutcracker is one of the most popular ballets in the world. It’s at the Royal Opera House in London, at the Joffrey in Chicago, at the Opéra Bastille in Paris. It’s at an untold number of smaller companies around the US and abroad. In New York City, more than 100,000 people each year attend New York City Ballet’s famed production of The Nutcracker, staged and choreographed by George Balanchine.
