Maria Tallchief on Allegro Brillante: “The ballet captivated me. The business of being lifted into the air in my flowing chiffon skirt...

“This is a dance ballet, pure and simple, to some pleasant music by Donizetti. It was originally produced as a part of “Salute to Italy,”...

"The Valse is so lovely. You feel beautiful."—Suki Schorer in Repertory in Review: 40 Years of the New York City Ballet The ballet Valse...

We're back! Tonight is opening night of NYCB's Winter 2023 season. In his autobiography, Jacques d'Amboise recalled being in the audience...

[50/50] One last bow for 2022! Allegra Kent on dancing Sugar Plum in 1964 for the first time on the larger New York State Theater stage,...

[48/50] Paloma Hererra guesting with NYCB as Dewdrop. Photos by Costas. Probably 1994, according to Paloma.

[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,...

[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,'...