LI Ballet Presents Holiday Performance of "The Nutcracker"

by Niall Fitzgerald

The Long Island Ballet Theatre and the Huntington Center for the Performing Arts staged their 33rd annual presentation of "The Nutcracker" last week at the Jeanne Rimsky Theatre in Port Washington.

The holiday extravaganza ballet was written by Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky in 1892, and has become a favored holiday classic for families and music lovers around the world.

The libretto was adapted by Tchaikovsky from the 1816 short story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" by Ernst Hoffmann. Children are featured prominently in the performance, as both lead characters - and as the legions of mice soldiers serving the Mouse King.

The Nutcracker is a treasured annual holiday event for the LI Ballet Theatre, and has been a "sold out" performance for both the Theatre and the Huntington Center.