Loosely based on tale “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King,” by E.T.A. Hoffmann, “The Nutcracker” seen on the stage today is different in detail from the original story but the basic plot remains the same; A young German girl dreams of a Nutcracker Prince and a fierce battle against a Mouse King.

The idea to create a ballet on this fanciful story was the brainchild of Prince Vselvolozhsky, director of the Imperial Theater in St. Petersburg. In 1890, Vselvolozhsky assigned the project to choreographer Marius Petipa and composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Petipa based his version on a revision of the story by Alexander Dumas, a well-known French author.

Early in 1891, just as Tchaikovsky was starting “Nutcracker,” he was introduced to a new instrumental invention called a celesta while touring in Paris. The keys on this instrument are connected to rods which strike metal bars similar to those found on the glockenspiel. Tchaikovsky was the first to use this etherial instrument in a score, and today we hear it in the Sugar Plum Fairy variation.

Petipa outlined the ballet’s structure but, claiming illness, he passed the final preparations onto Lev Ivanov, a capable choreographer but one lacking in Petipas genius. Tchaikovsky meanwhile, was suffering from severe misgivings about the ballet, objecting to the lack of faithfulness paid to Hoffmann’s original work, but he labored on to finish the score in February 1892.

The Nutcracker premiered on December 18, 1892 at St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theater and was a dismal failure! The role of the Sugar Plum Fairy was danced by a homely ballerina, the precise corp de ballet was replaced in the first act by scurrying children and the delicate beauty of the music did not appeal to the audience.

Tchaikovsky fell into deep despair over the initial failure of the ballet. However, casting changes and the public’s increasing familiarity with the score eventually led to “The Nutcracker’s” acceptance.

In 1954, George Balanchine, yet another world renowned choreographer, created a new revision and today, “The Nutcracker” is one of the most popular and beloved of all ballets, and is staged annually in countries around the world.