Holiday Nutcracker Listings

With the holiday season having started this past weekend, I will put together a listing of various productions of the ballet The Nutcracker from which you can choose. Those we have just one listing today, more will be added shortly.

Before we get into your options, here is some basic information about the ballet.

Though a staple of ballet companies around the world, The Nutcracker was not considered a success when it debuted in St. Petersburg in 1892. In fact, it wasn’t until the 1960s that it became embraced.

In the ballet, Clara is enamored with a nutcracker that her godfather has brought to a Christmas eve celebration. Others aren’t so interested and Fritz actually breaks the nutcracker. After all the guests have left for the evening – and just as midnight strikes – Clara checks in on the broken nutcracker. That’s when the world of toys, mice, fairies, Christmas trees and her beloved nutcracker come to magical life.

The music was written by Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky. If you’ve seen the Disney film Fantasia, you are well-acquainted with the music.

Here are the listings:

Nutcracker Online – San Francisco Ballet – Available through December 31st

San Francisco Ballet’s 2008 production will be available for streaming throughout the holidays.

This production was choreographed by Helgi Tomasson. The company features Elizabeth Powell as Clara, Yuan Yuan Tan as the Snow Queen, Pierre-François Vilanoba as the Snow King, Vanessa Zahorian as the Sugar Plum Fairy with the grand pas de deux danced by Maria Kochetkova and Davit Karapetyan.

Tickets are $49 and allow viewing for 48 hours. There are also interactive components included. Tickets are available here.

More productions coming soon…..

(To have your production added to this list, please e-mail us)

Photo: San Francisco Ballet’s The Nutcracker (Photo ©Erik Tomasson/Courtesy SF Ballet)