Dancers (left to right) Stanislava Belinskaya as Clara, Lydia Rubtsova as Marianna and Vassily Stukolkin as Fritz in the first production of the The Nutcracker, the Mariinsky Theatre, 1892
Credit: RIA Novosti / ArenaPAL
Performing arts photo library ArenaPAL are celebrating the 120th anniversary of the first performance of The Nutcracker, the world’s most popular Christmas ballet, with a selection of images from their archives. Premiered at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia on 18 December 1892, with music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, the ballet was not initially a success. It wasn’t until choreographer George Balanchine revived the piece with the New York City Ballet in 1954 that we fell in love with the magic of the Nutcracker – with it becoming a staple Christmas-time production ever since.
View and license images from The Nutcracker 1892 premier
View and license images from The Nutcracker modern productions