Whose Ballet Is The Nutcracker?

Tchaikovsky composed The Nutcracker for the Mariinsky Theatre, where it premiered in December 1892 with choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. The story is based on Alexandre Dumas's adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffmann's 1816 tale The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. For the 'Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy', Tchaikovsky used the celesta, a new keyboard instrument he had discovered in Paris. The ballet received a lukewarm response at first. Today it is a Christmas tradition, especially in the United States, where companies may perform it dozens of times each season.