The 1892 ballet, The Nutcracker, was composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Originally choreographed by Marius Petipa, this two-act dance piece premiered in Saint Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre as a part of a double feature along with the opera Iolanta. The ballet’s first run wasn’t received well. Everything from the event’s dancers to the plotline was heavily criticized. The first complete production put up outside Russia was in England, in the year 1934. Unlike the Mariinsky Theatre presentation, the later productions employed adults to play the roles of the kids. The Nutcracker follows Clara into an imaginary realm of toys. It begins right before Christmas eve when Clara’s family gathers together to decorate the Christmas tree. Clara is gifted an extraordinary nutcracker - one that resembles a man dressed in a red uniform. Clara is thrilled with the toy but her younger brother Fritz wants it for himself. A tug of war ensues, eventually leading to the dis...