by Rafael Delgado

Created on: November 30, 2008   Last Updated: February 20, 2011

Boys marching and girls curtsying, mice scurrying, flowers waltzing and Sugar Plums dancing; The Nutcracker season is here.

My love for ballet came hand in hand, just like it does for thousands of children across the United States every year, dancing as a child in The Nutcracker. Although I had performed in character dances in my mother's dance school recitals since I was 5 years of age, it wasn't until I performed in a Nutcracker production that I can say I fell in love with ballet. Throughout the years, I have performed The Nutcracker hundreds of times in countless productions but I still remember so very vividly those performances presented by Ballets de San Juan in Puerto Rico. The large stage, the bright lights, the memorable music, and more than anything else, the adult dancers that I strived to emulate, all of it is engraved in my memory as a magical experience.

Everybody knows that The Nutcracker is a Christmas ritual for families all over America. What you may not know is that The Nutcracker is the "bread and butter" of ballet companies the United States. The Nutcracker is simply the biggest contributor of earned revenue for ballet companies in America, and without it many regional ballet companies wouldn't be able to exist.

But The Nutcracker was not an instant hit as a ballet. It had to battle, just like the Nutcracker doll hero, to attain its crown. Marius Petipa commissioned the score to selected portions of the E.T.A Hoffmann story from composer Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky of Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake fame. It was Lev Ivanov who ended up writing the libretto and then choreographed the first production that was premiered at the Maryinsky Theatre, in St. Petersburg, Russia in December 17, 1892 to a lukewarm reception. Western Europe saw its first production in 1934 performed by the Saddler Wells Ballet in London. It was not until 1940 that American audiences saw their first, albeit shortened, version danced by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo; And not until 1944 that the first full-length ballet production was seen performed by the San Francisco Ballet to choreography by William Christiansen. New York had to wait until George Balanchine presented his version danced by the New York City Ballet in 1954.

This year, more than any other year, ballet companies and professional schools everywhere need your help. Please consider attending your locally produced performance of The Nutcracker. Your attendance will make a difference and who knows? You may even fall in love with ballet all over again.

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