[49/50] Suzy Pilarre recently reached out to me to share her history with the Nutcracker: "In 1958, at 10 I was brought to SAB by Melissa...

[47/50] “Suki Schorer was a Dew Drop that had the lightness of a refracted sunbeam, and made the “Waltz of the Flowers” an enchanted...

[45/50] *This photo is of Merrill Ashley as Sugar Plum, but the story is about Dew Drop. [After recovering from a hip injury] My thoughts...

[46/50] “Little Miss Bethune, incidentally, gave up a good job in Broadway’s ‘The Most Happy Fella’ in order to appear as Clara. Her...

[43/50] We are nearing the finale of this Nutcracker season! Edward Villella and Patricia McBride in the finale. Martha Swope, 1968.

[44/50] Of Mimi Paul, Clive Barnes wrote: “Her musicality was precise and yet not so precise as to be ungracious, her manner was regal...

[41/50] “This was a Sugar Plum Fairy with both regal carriage and gentle, gracious manner, particularly in her interaction with the...

[42/50] Suzanne Farrell as Dew Drop. Photo by Martha Swope, 1966.

[40/50] “I named the Dew Drop myself—there was no Dew Drop in Leningrad.” —Balanchine in Repertory in Review: 40 Years of the New York...

[39/50] Robert Maiorano & Stephanie Saland (front) and Julie Hays (background) by Martha Swope, 1970

[38/50] "After one of The Nutcracker’s most recent performances, principal dancer Patricia McBride, who has danced the Sugar Plum Fairy...

[37/50] Akim Volynsky, Russian dance critic, wrote, “I must mention the great success by a still quite young [he was 18] and unusually...

[35/50] "The Dewdrop is different from the flowers. For one, the flowers don’t leave the stage. They are constantly swirling around,...

“Cyd Charisse is a terrific dancer, a wonderful partner. She has precision plus—beautiful dynamite, I call it.” —Fred Astaire in Steps in...

[36/60] "In the beginning, there was Tchaikovsky; maybe there still is. 'I always have an idea he is so happy because we do it right,'...

[34/50] Just like all the students at the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg, Alexandra Danilova and George Balanchine performed in...

[33/50] A year ago today I was lucky enough to meet my favorite ballerina. I mean, I have a lot of favorites, but Allegra is at the top....

It’s been a whole year since I started curating dance history photos and stories to share with an Instagram audience. What began with my...

[32/50] Gelsey on the role of Dewdrop: “When I returned to Balanchine’s stage [following a foot injury], I had the facility to absorb...

[31/50] Richard Rapp as Candy Cane. Photo by Martha Swope.