New York City Ballet, The Nutcracker (New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, closes Dec. 30). A half-century after it first knocked out New York audiences, George Balanchine’s verison of Tchaikovsky’s perennial family favorite remains the best of all possible Nutcrackers, above all for its letter-perfect opening scene, in which the greatest choreographer of the twentieth century put on stage the home-for-the-holidays Christmas of everybody’s dreams. It’s a permanent masterpiece of Western art–but don’t tell that to your kids (TT).
Terry Teachout on the arts in New York City
