Christmas Traditions: The Moscow Ballet's Nutcracker

Principal dancers, Mykhailo Shcherbakov and Olga Pasternak of The Moscow Ballet.

Perhaps nothing harkens back to a traditional Christmas like The Nutcracker Ballet.  First performed in 1892 in St. Petersburg, it like Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty are Russian ballet to its core. Undergirded with music by the renowned composer, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, The Nutcracker celebrates its 75th anniversary since it was first performed here in the US in December of 1944.

The Moscow Ballet is now on its 27th North American Tour, making 144 stops along the way. Each stop requires a meticulous set up of special stage matting as well as lighting, scenery, costumes, and effects. Rehearsals are done on stage prior to the first performance to allow a thorough warm-up.

Warming up with rehearsal time before The Nutcracker performance.

The Moscow Ballet's Nutcracker production offers much more than the original, classical ballet. Included are extremely powerful, yet controlled grande jetes and tour en l' air by the male danseurs, yet innovative moves showing extreme flexibility as shown in the Arabian Variation in Act II.  
Some of my personal favorites included the high-speed pirouettes by The Nutcracker Prince and the tender pas de deux between him and Masha. Other highlights included the corps de ballet for the Waltz of the Flowers and the Sugar Plum Fairy's dance. The whole production is absolutely breathtaking and ethereal!