Pennsylvania Ballet Presents "George Balanchine's The Nutcracker" (December 9–31)
Similar deals
Tchaikovsky’s classic score twirls to life in this holiday classic, which sees young Marie venture into a dreamland of snow and ice
- Seating: family circle, rear parquet, or box
- Length of performance: 2 hours
George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker
- The story: Young Marie receives a nutcracker from her godfather, a wizardly toymaker named Herr Drosselmeier, and finds herself caught in the middle of a pitched battle between toy soldiers and an army of mice.
- The characters: Besides the heroine and the titular nutcracker, audiences meet the Mouse King, waltzing flowers, and the Sugarplum Fairy.
- The score: Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece includes “Waltz of the Snowflakes,” “Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy,” a Spanish bolero, and Russian Trepak.
- The choreography was devised by George Balanchine, a cofounder of the New York City Ballet who is often referred to as the father of American ballet.
Need to know info
About "George Balanchine's The Nutcracker"
Pennsylvania Ballet has deep ties to dance history. The company was formed in 1963 by Barbara Weisberger, a protégé of the great George Balanchine. Perhaps due to that remarkable connection, the ballet's mission has always been to celebrate the classics. An annual staging of Balanchine's The Nutcracker and other favorites pay tribute to dance's traditional beauty. But the artists still look to the future of the art form, which surprisingly doesn't involve pieces set to laserbeats. The group is known for innovative takes on canonical fixtures, from a re-imagined Swan Lake to the world premiere of Matthew Neenan's Carmina Burana.