Balanchine’s Candied Paradise of Childhood

Sugar plums and marzipan, dewdrops, chocolates and candy canes, the wonders of “The Nutcracker’s” Land of Sweets are treats and spectacles, perhaps no greater than the fantasy of the immense rising Christmas tree, which grows towering like a magic bean stalk from the stage. As midnight chimes on Christmas Eve, a young girl meets a young prince in disguise, and both are flung into a secret battle of tin soldiers, gingerbread men and a multi-headed mouse framed in faces like a Hindu god. Based on the novella by German author E.T.A. Hoffmann, the ballet set to a score by Tchaikovsky was deemed a failure at the end of the 19th century, but was revived as an enduring classic by choreographer George Balanchine’s New York City Ballet in 1954 (they have performed it every year since). “The Father of American Ballet,” Balanchine had been a master for The Ballets Russes under Sergei Diaghilev, the man responsible for the widespread popularity of ballet in Europe. Balanchine’s trademark dance method he honed at his American company can be seen in the severity of the speed and strong, clean lines created by the highly flexible ballerinas. The Sugar Plum Fairy as he choreographed it remains the most changing role in ballet —  put through hell to dance like an angel.

“The Nutcracker” is now being performed by the New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center in New York, N.Y., and by the Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory at The Warner Theatre in Torrington, Conn., on Dec. 10, 11, 17 and 18. Photo by Erin Baiano

“The Nutcracker” is now being performed by the New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center in New York, N.Y., and by the Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory at The Warner Theatre in Torrington, Conn., on Dec. 10, 11, 17 and 18. Photo by Erin Baiano

“The Nutcracker” is now being performed by the New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center in New York, N.Y., and by the Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory at The Warner Theatre in Torrington, Conn., on Dec. 10, 11, 17 and 18. Photo by Erin Baiano