NEW YORK — For so many American kids, it’s their first, and sometimes only, exposure to ballet: A holiday performance of “The Nutcracker,” that classic tale of a little girl’s dreamlike encounters with battling mice and toy soldiers, a dashing prince, a growing Christmas tree and a land of sweets.
There’s one in virtually every town. But until now, if you lived in Anchorage or Omaha or Tulsa, you weren’t able to see what many consider the Nutcracker gold standard: the late George Balanchine’s classic production for New York City Ballet.
On Tuesday, though, the company will beam a live “Nutcracker” performance in high-definition from Lincoln Center to some 560 movie theaters in all 50 states, followed the next night by a live broadcast on public television. (For a list of the 19 Colorado theaters, visit )
In taking its “Nutcracker” national, the company hopes to promote its brand, earn new revenue and join a growing trend of HD transmissions of live performance, pioneered by the Metropolitan Opera.
“There’s nothing like the real thing,” says an admittedly “totally biased” Peter Martins, the company’s ballet master in chief. “Of course, the hope is that if this works — however you define success — it will become a new way to show the world what we do so well.”
Martins — a former principal dancer with New York City Ballet under his legendary predecessor, Balanchine — grew up in Denmark and thus wasn’t exposed to “The Nutcracker” until he came to New York as a young adult. But he’s well aware of its crucial role as an introduction to ballet for generations of Americans — including virtually all his own dancers.
One of them is Ashley Bouder, who was 6 when she saw her first “Nutcracker” in Carlisle, Pa. — as it happened, she also performed in it as an angel. It launched a lifetime of dancing, and Bouder, who turns 28 on Saturday, is now an NYCB principal, known for her fearless, attacking style in jumps and turns.
“I do think this particular ‘Nutcracker’ is really special,” said Bouder, who will dance the brief but demanding role of Dewdrop in both live performances. “Balanchine’s choreography is so wonderful, for children, as well as adults.”
Indeed, the choreographer is known to have been particularly masterful with children — as in the scene where eight rosy-cheeked kids suddenly emerge from Mother Ginger’s 9-foot-wide skirt to perform an intricate yet buoyant dance.
The ballet transmissions, produced by Live From Lincoln Center for the NCM Fathom theater network, are the first by an American ballet company (the Bolshoi Ballet and the Royal Ballet in London have done their own, as well as several opera companies and the National Theater in London.)
The two broadcasts will have high-profile presenters: Talk-show host Kelly Ripa today, and Chelsea Clinton, a known ballet fan who danced ballet as a child in Washington, on Wednesday.
“We’ve been talking about doing this for a long time,” said Katherine Brown, executive director of City Ballet. She said tickets appear to be selling well but that it’s hard to tell in advance because many people just show up and buy tickets on the spot.
Tickets cost more than an average trip to the movies — ranging from about $15 to $20, depending on the theater.
