The Russian Ballet that Became an American Christmas Tradition
The Nutcracker Many Americans do not consider the holiday season to be over until they have attended a performance of this ballet. The Christmas Eve story of a young girl named Clara was given its world premiere on December 18, 1892 in Saint Petersburg, Old Russia. The ballet music was created by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and the first dancing patterns were invented by Marius Petipa. It was performed outside of Russia for the first time in 1934 in England, and it was not until 1944 that it was presented in the United States by the San Francisco Ballet. As performances took place all throughout the United States in the 1960s, it evolved into one of those things that everyone had to go see. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoJk7mvmHHQ[/embed] The Nutcracker Plot The protean story…