Ballet companies worldwide have already passed months in preparations and performances, but it was only on December 18 in 1892 that The Nutcracker, as choreographed, to some disputed degree, by Lev Ivanov and Marius Petipa, made its stage debut at St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre. For as many choreographic interpretations seen in the century-plus since, from George Balanchine’s classic to Christopher Wheeldon’s new World’s Fair-set rendition created for the Joffrey Ballet, the story’s heritage is, too, deeply complex; Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky created a suite from the libretto by Petipa drawn from an adaptation by Alexandre Dumas père of an original story by E.T.A. Hoffmann.
Thanks to the wonders of YouTube, a wealth of footage from performances over the years are available for our comparative analysis pleasures — and the Pas de Deux makes a great starting point. These six provide a good range of approaches; far more are available!
Anna Tsygankova and Matthew Golding, 2011 (choreography, Toer van Schayk and Wayne Eagling)
Christine Blanc and Domenico Levrè, 2000 (choreography, Maurice Bejart)
Larisa Lezhnina and Viktor Baranov, 1993 (choreography, Vasily Vainonen)
Merrill Ashley and Sean Lavery, undated early 1980s (choreography, Balanchine)
Gelsey Kirkland and Mikhail Baryshnikov, 1977 (choreography, Baryshnikov)
Merle Park and Rudolf Nureyev, 1968 (choreography, Nureyev)
