A worldwide phenomenon, ”The Nutcracker” ballet is a staple for the holiday season, drawing hundreds of thousands of viewers each year. 

Serving as an iconic symbol of Christmas, “The Nutcracker” represents a childlike wonder for the holiday season. A tradition for many, the ballet came together through the work of talented composers and choreographers alike, evolving into the story we are familiar with today. 

Set on Christmas Eve, “The Nutcracker” follows the story of Clara (also commonly known as Marie or Masha) through a fervent dream taking place at the bottom of the Christmas tree. Following Clara’s imagination she befriends a Nutcracker soldier who comes to life and leads her through the reverie world she has crafted, introducing her to fantasy characters throughout the ballet, and expressing the anxiety she feels towards growing up. 

An artistic adaptation following the book written in 1816, “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” by E.T.A. Hoffman served as the baseline for the ballet. The score was completed by Alexandre Dumas based on his own adaptation. The original music was composed in Russia, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaicovsky in 1890, assembling the two-act ballet.

“Everything went off perfectly, but nevertheless it seemed to me that the public did not like it. They were bored,” Tchaikovsky stated, reflecting on his work on “The Nutcracker”, and the public response to the performance. 

Originally premiering in Saint Petersburg at the Mariinsky Theater, the ballet was not the international phenomenon we are familiar with today. Many criticized the performance for being “nonsensical” and “disorderly”, questioning both the composition and choreography of the performance. 

Nonetheless, it spread throughout ballet stages worldwide, with choreographers and directors tweaking the performance as they see fit, leading to multiple evolved versions of varying popularities. 

The first complete performance outside of Russia took place in 1934 in England. Directed by Nicholas Stergeyev, following the original choreography, the ballet began to gain international popularity. 

“The Nutcracker” was brought to the U.S. in an abridged version in New York in 1940. However the first full performance took place at the San Francisco Ballet in 1944, staged by artistic director William Christensen. 

Since then, “The Nutcracker” has been performed there every year since, with new versions arising in 1944, 1967, and 2004. Christensen’s original version continues to be performed at Ballet West, in Salt Lake City. 

Perhaps the most notable performance in the U.S. took place at the New York City Ballet, staged by George Balanchine in 1954. “Maria Tallchief, as the Sugar Plum Fairy, is herself a creature of magic, dancing the seemingly impossible with effortless beauty of movement, electrifying us with her brilliance, enchanting us with her radiance of being,” Walter Terry wrote. The work of Tallchief and Balanchine catapulted the popularity of the ballet throughout the U.S.. 

“The Nutcracker” gained popularity in Seattle in 1983 at the Pacific Northwest Ballet. Kent Stowell, the choreographer for the company turned to the original copy of the book for inspiration, incorporating numerous darker elements from Hoffman’s work. This version continued to be performed until 2014.

“We gave substantial thought to all of those elements to enrich the story and make it more rewarding to the viewer, in the sense that it would have more depth than just a candy land,” Stowell stated, reflecting on his adaptation of the ballet, and the meaning behind the story of “The Nutcracker”. 

Now the Pacific Northwest Ballet performs Balanchine’s version of the ballet, with thousands of audience members coming from all over the state to partake in this holiday tradition. “The Nutcracker” isn’t something that you want to miss this holiday season!