The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker is one of the most beloved Christmas stories of all time. It has been adapted into a ballet, as well as many television and movie adaptations.

Original story
The story of "The Nutcracker" is adapted from a story written in 1816 by E. T. A. Hoffmann called "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King," which tells the magical tale of a young girl whose Christmas gift of a nutcracker comes alive.

Hoffmann's story is of a young man, nephew of an inventor called Herr Drosselmeyer, who fails to complete the task required to marry the princess. As a result, he is cursed by being turned into a "nutcracker" - with a large head, wide grinning mouth, and beard. The princess rejects him for being ugly and he is banished. Herr Drosselmeyer gives his god-daughter Marie a nutcracker for Christmas and tells her the tale. After various "dreams" in which the nutcracker comes to life and they defeat the evil Mouse King, Marie tells her toy nutcracker that she would never reject him as the princess did but would love him no matter how ugly he was. This breaks the spell and Herr Drosselmeyer arrives with his nephew, magically restored to his handsome self. The nephew marries Marie and takes her away to the magical kingdom.

The Ballet
In 1892, Pytor Ilytch Tchaikovsky set a variation of Hoffmann's story by French author Alexandre Dumas to music. Then, together with renowned choreographer Marius Petipa (working with Lev Ivanov) they created the ballet "The Nutcracker." The first act is really wonderful and entertaining. It begins with a Christmas party at the house of a young girl's family. Her godfather, Herr Drosselmeyer, brings a bunch of amazing toys as gifts, and they all dance. The girl, Clara, receives a toy nutcracker as a gift, and she is enchanted by it.

Clara falls asleep with her toy and a dream sequence begins in which the nutcracker comes to life, a bunch of mice (I always thought they were rats!) appear, and a big battle ensues with toy soldiers coming to life as well - it's such fun! The Mouse King is defeated and Clara goes off on a tour of a magical land with the nutcracker who has become a prince. The second act is a series of exotic dances in this magical kingdom, some of which can be pretty amazing - Sugar Plum fairies are one of the attractions - and the music is quite glorious. The conclusion is usually that the girl wakes up in her chair, still holding the nutcracker; it was all a dream.