(13/50) “Diana Adams as the Sugar Plum Fairy is a vision of beauty, The act opens, in this version, with her variations from the grand...

(3/50) Jacques d'Amboise & Melissa Hayden in the Nutcracker Pas de Deux. Photo by Fred Fehl, 1962. Harry Ransom Center.

(2/50) The Sugar Plum Fairy, welcomes the Nutcracker Prince and Marie into the Land of Sweets in the original 1954 production of...

Three Balanchine Duets* Part 2 *commissioned for the Vail Dance Festival This week, Vail’s International Evenings of Dance performances...

[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,...

[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...

[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...

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

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

[28/50] This is Part 1 of a 3-part post for our 3-show day. These posts share Maria Tallchief's experience with the Grand Pas de Deux...

[19/50] "Balanchine’s pas de deux is one of the greatest of all time, so elegant, so fluid. Dance on this level is intellect without...

[17/50] Suzanne Farrell on the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy: “She has all the authority. She is an elegant lady, beautiful and kind; and...

[15/50] Of a 17-year-old Gelsey Kirkland, Clive Barnes wrote: “It is a special pleasure to see Miss Kirkland right now in the springtime...

[13/50] “Miss Verdy, all sweet French delicacy, is a charmer of a Sugar Plum” — Clive Barnes, New York Times, 1968 Violette Verdy and...

[11/50] Jacques was in Hollywood shooting Seven Brides for Seven Brothers when Balanchine choreographed the Nutcracker in 1954. He...

[12/50] In 1985, Jean-Pierre Frohlich recalled his early years in The Nutcracker to author Ellen Switzer: "When I danced the Nutcracker...

[10/50] Fun little fact... J.C. Penney's granddaughter went to SAB and was in the Nutcracker! Also, did you know J.C. Penney stands for...

[9/50] A review from the first season of Balanchine's The Nutcracker: “[Miss Adams] is not essentially a bravura dancer, and the Sugar...