Bolshoi Ballet: The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker speaks to the child in everyone, with it's happy dreams of snow, presents, adventures, toys and wishes fulfilled. Despite Tchaikovsky's most addictive score, the original 1892 ballet was considered a failure, too much plot in the first act, not enough plot in the second. Yuri Grigorovich's 1966 staging at the Bolshoi, designed by Simon Virsaladze, revised the incomplete scenario to focus on the dreams of the teenaged Masha, who receives a nutcracker doll from her godfather at her family's Christmas party. Sneaking down at night to find her doll, Masha is swept up in a magical transformation where the Christmas tree grows to huge size and rats fight an epic battle with the toys.