2,000th Performance of the Nutcracker

By Alfred Branch, Jr.

Since Feb. 2, 1954, the New York City Ballet has performed George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, and this week The New York Times marked the occasion of the 2,000th performance of the ballet with a behind-the-scenes video.

The original ballet was created in 1891 by Alexandre Dumas, with music by Peter Tchaikovsky, based on an adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffman’s story entitled “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.” Balanchine’s restaging of the ballet in 1954 is considered the definitive modern version, helping it come the most widely performed ballet in the world.

Watch The Nutcracker’s 2,000th Performance

Courtesy of New York Times Video