The legendary artistic director and choreographer of the New York City Ballet George Balanchine first plied his considerable talents to Tchaikovsky’s beloved ballet The Nutcracker in 1954, creating a new staging based on Alexandre Dumas’s version of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s 1816 tale The Nutcracker and the Mouse King notable in particular for incorporating more child dancers than ever before. The staging has since become the most revived and imitated version of the ballet in the United States, and in December 2011 filmmaker Alan Skog filmed the New York City Ballet’s annual revival of Balanchine’s 1954 version. Honored with an Emmy Award nomination in 2012, Skog’s film captures a truly compelling performance of Balanchine’s classic choreography, with music director Fayçal Karoui leading the New York City Ballet Orchestra in Tchaikovsky’s timelessly enchanting score. 1 hr. 33 min. Streaming video of show. Free and Open to the Public
