HISTORY OF THE BALLET

"It was Christmas Eve. The Stahlbaum family was gathered around a tall Christmas tree that was beautifully decorated with glowing candles, candied apples, and sugar almonds. The children, Fritz and Marie, were playing with their new presents when a strange little man with long white hair and a black patch over one eye entered the room."

So begins "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King," a story that took its time and did some traveling before becoming a classic ballet.

"The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" was written in 1816 by E.T.A. Hoffmann, a Prussian. The story was adapted and simplified in 1847 by Frenchman Alexandre Dumas. Another Frenchman, Marius Petipa, devised the scenario. When he became ill, his Russian assistant Lev Ivanov choreographed the ballet. Peter Tchaikovsky, another Russian, began composing the music in 1891.

The ballet premiered on Dec. 17, 1892, before the czar in St. Petersburg. It was not embraced and was rarely produced until George Balanchine mounted a landmark production for the New York City Ballet in 1954. Since then, "Nutcracker" has kept many ballet companies solvent and has become the inspiration for many children to take their first dance lessons.