The Nutcracker Ballet Worksheet Download

Look at the dancers twirl on their toes! They are dancing The Nutcracker ballet. Clara and her toy nutcracker visit the Land of Sweets!

Who wrote the music for that sweet place? A man named Pyotr Tchaikovsky did! His ballet first opened in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1892.

That was more than 130 years ago! A new instrument called a celesta made the Sugar Plum Fairy's music sparkle. Today ballet companies still dance The Nutcracker every December!

Can dancers tell a whole story without any words? They can in a ballet, and this one is called The Nutcracker! A girl named Clara and her toy nutcracker visit the Land of Sweets.

What kind of music would fit the Land of Sweets? Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote it for dancers in Russia. It first opened in St. Petersburg in 1892, more than 130 years ago!

Back then, the celesta was a brand-new instrument that rings like bells. That sound makes the Sugar Plum Fairy's dance sparkle. Every December, ballet companies still perform Clara's story, over 130 years later!

Wow, a toy nutcracker becomes a hero while snowflakes dance around it! That is The Nutcracker, a ballet that tells a story with music and dancing, not words. It begins at a Christmas party, where a girl named Clara gets a wooden nutcracker.

That nutcracker comes to life in Clara's dream and takes her to the Land of Sweets. There she meets the Sugar Plum Fairy, who dances to music that sounds like tiny bells. People first watched this ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1892, over 130 years ago!

Back in 1892, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the composer who wrote the music, used a brand-new instrument called a celesta. It looks like a small piano, but tiny hammers tap metal bars inside. Those taps make a sparkly sound that helps the fairy's dance twinkle.

That twinkle still fills theaters each December, when ballet companies, or groups of dancers, perform it. Families dress up and watch the stage come alive. Isn't it wonderful that one small instrument from 1892 can still make people smile?

Imagine you are in a velvet seat as the lights dim and a giant Christmas tree grows taller and taller on the stage! You are watching The Nutcracker, a ballet, which is a story told with dance and music instead of words. Dancers twirl like snowflakes, and a wooden nutcracker soldier comes to life. A girl named Clara even visits the Land of Sweets.

Clara's trip to the Land of Sweets first appeared on a stage in St. Petersburg, Russia, in December 1892. That is more than 130 years ago, before movies could talk! It grew from a tale by a German writer named E.T.A. Hoffmann. Then Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, a composer (a person who writes music), created the tunes to go with it.

Tchaikovsky's tunes had a brand-new sound, thanks to an instrument called the celesta. Can you guess how it sounds? Tiny hammers inside its piano-like box strike metal bars, so it rings like little bells. Tchaikovsky heard one in Paris, just a few years after it was invented, and he saved its sparkle for the Sugar Plum Fairy's dance as a surprise.

The Sugar Plum Fairy's sparkly dance still twirls across stages every December. Ballet companies in many countries perform the show during the holiday season, and lots of families make watching it a yearly tradition. So when those tinkling notes float through the theater, you are hearing a sound that Tchaikovsky once hoped to keep as a surprise.

It is a snowy evening in December 1892, and carriages are rolling up to the grand Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. Inside, families in their finest clothes sink into velvet seats. Then the lights dim, and dancers twirl onto the stage in a brand-new ballet called The Nutcracker. Can you imagine hearing that music for the very first time?

That music came from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, a Russian composer who could make an orchestra tell a story. A girl named Clara receives a toy nutcracker at a Christmas party. When the nutcracker comes to life, it leads her to the Land of Sweets. The tale came from a story by German writer E. T. A. Hoffmann, written many decades earlier.

The sweetest surprise in the Land of Sweets is the Sugar Plum Fairy's sparkling music. It comes from a celesta, an instrument that looks like a small piano but strikes metal bars with hammers. The sound is like tiny bells tinkling in frosty air. The celesta was brand new, invented in Paris in 1886 by Auguste Mustel, and Tchaikovsky wanted it kept secret so no other Russian composer could use it first.

Once the secret was out, that glittering sound became one of the most loved parts of the ballet. Critics at the time liked the music more than the story, so the ballet needed time to become a favorite. In 1944, San Francisco Ballet staged the first full-length U.S. performance, and in 1954 choreographer George Balanchine created a famous version for New York City Ballet. Those shows helped turn it into a holiday tradition.

Today that tradition is bigger than ever: every December, ballet companies perform it in theaters around the world. In many productions, a Christmas tree seems to grow taller right before your eyes! More than 130 years later, an instrument Tchaikovsky wanted to keep secret still makes the Sugar Plum Fairy sparkle every winter.

Here is a puzzle: why does a ballet about a toy nutcracker appear on stages all over the country every December? Picture a glowing Christmas tree that seems to grow taller and taller, dancers dressed as snowflakes, and a fairy who twirls to music that sounds like tiny bells. That is The Nutcracker, which first took the stage in St. Petersburg, Russia, in December 1892. To crack this puzzle, you need to meet the people and the one surprising sound behind it.

The first of those people is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, a Russian composer who was already famous for the ballets Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty. For this new ballet, the creators borrowed a tale that the German author E.T.A. Hoffmann wrote in 1816 and the French writer Alexandre Dumas later retold. Marius Petipa, the choreographer who creates the dance steps, began planning the ballet, but when he became ill, Lev Ivanov finished it. Like runners in a relay race, each artist passed the story along until it reached the stage.

When the story finally reached the stage, it opened at a family Christmas party, where a girl named Clara receives a wooden nutcracker shaped like a soldier. That night the toy comes to life, and Clara follows him through a snowy forest to the Land of Sweets. There she watches dances inspired by treats such as chocolate, coffee and tea. The Sugar Plum Fairy, who rules the land, dances one of the ballet's best-known solos, and her music is unlike any other in the show.

Her music sparkles because of a hidden helper, an instrument called the celesta, which was brand new in Tchaikovsky's day. A French inventor named Auguste Mustel created it in Paris in 1886, and it looks like a small upright piano. Inside, the keys make little hammers strike metal plates, which produces a sound like tiny bells. Its name comes from a French word meaning 'heavenly,' and Tchaikovsky loved it so much that he arranged to bring one to Russia.

Russia was only the first stop on the ballet's long journey, and in 1944 San Francisco Ballet performed a full-length version in the United States. Today, ballet companies large and small perform it every December, and many invite local students to dance the children's roles. For many families, going to see it is a holiday tradition, like decorating a tree or baking cookies. Not bad for a ballet that sparkled with an instrument only six years old when its curtain first rose!

You might assume a ballet as famous as The Nutcracker was a smash hit from its very first night, but that is not quite how the story goes! Picture what audiences see today: a Christmas tree that seems to grow taller and taller, a wooden nutcracker soldier who springs to life, and snowflakes whirling across the stage like a blizzard in slow motion. A girl named Clara receives the nutcracker as a present, and her adventure carries her to the Land of Sweets, where dancers twirl as treats and treasures. Nobody speaks a word. The music does all the talking, leaping from tiptoe-soft tinkles to stomping marches and swirling waltzes.

That first night came in December 1892 at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, and the reaction was mixed, with some cheers and some grumbles. Some critics found the story thin, even though it came from a tale by the German writer E.T.A. Hoffmann that was already more than seventy years old. Making the ballet had been a scramble, too: the famous choreographer Marius Petipa became ill, so his assistant, Lev Ivanov, finished creating the dances. Many of the children on stage were students from the imperial ballet school, so young dancers were part of the magic from the start.

Even the grumbling critics, though, could not ignore the music, and one sound in it made listeners lean forward. Composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky had discovered a brand-new instrument called the celesta in Paris, where Auguste Mustel had invented it only a few years earlier. It looks like a small upright piano, but inside, tiny hammers strike metal bars, making a sound like tinkling bells or drops of icy water. Tchaikovsky wanted the sound to be a surprise, so he asked his publisher to send one to Russia and keep it quiet. He saved it for the Sugar Plum Fairy's dance, and the shimmer still makes her seem to float on a cloud of sugar crystals.

That sparkle traveled much farther than a single theater in Russia. Months before the ballet opened, Tchaikovsky gathered pieces of the score into a concert suite, so audiences already knew and loved the tunes. The full ballet took its time crossing the ocean, and the San Francisco Ballet is often credited with the first complete production in the United States, in 1944. In 1954, the choreographer George Balanchine created a version for New York City Ballet that helped make the story a December favorite across America.

Those December favorites now fill theaters around the world every year, which raises a fair question: why does a ballet with such a rocky start still matter? In my view, it gives families a shared tradition, a reason to dress up, sit in the dark, and let music tell a story. For many ballet companies it is a big event of the season, and it often gives young dancers their first taste of a real stage. It also proves that a first reaction is not the last word. A ballet that first won only mixed reviews now returns every December, still sparkling thanks to a little keyboard that Tchaikovsky tried to keep secret.

Picture a toy soldier who cracks nuts, a Christmas tree that seems to grow taller than the ceiling, and a snowstorm made of dancers twirling in white. That is The Nutcracker, a ballet that tells an entire story without a single sung or spoken word. Instead, dancers use leaps, spins, and graceful gestures while an orchestra fills the theater with music. Each December, ballet companies around the world perform it, and for many families, seeing it is as much a part of the season as decorating a tree. Yet it was created for one theater in one Russian city more than 130 years ago, so how did it travel so far?

The journey began in St. Petersburg, Russia, where the ballet first opened at the Mariinsky Theatre in December 1892. Its story came from a tale by German writer E.T.A. Hoffmann, published in 1816, and the ballet followed a French retelling of it by Alexandre Dumas. Ballet master Marius Petipa planned the dances, but when he became ill, his colleague Lev Ivanov finished the job. The music came from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, who was already famous for Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty.

With a composer that famous, the story had to be worthy of the music, and it centers on a girl named Clara. At a holiday party she receives a nutcracker, and at midnight the toy comes to life. After a brave, toy-sized battle, the nutcracker guides her to the Land of Sweets, where dancers perform in her honor. Some dances even hint at treats: the Spanish dance stands for chocolate, the Arabian dance for coffee, and the Chinese dance for tea. The ruler of this sugary kingdom is the Sugar Plum Fairy, whose dance has a sound like nothing else in the ballet.

That shimmering sound comes from the celesta, an instrument Tchaikovsky discovered in Paris. It looks like a small upright piano, but its keys make hammers strike metal plates, which ring like tiny bells. French instrument maker Auguste Mustel had invented it only in 1886, so it was brand new when Tchaikovsky went looking. He was so eager to surprise audiences that he asked his publisher to order one and keep it quiet, so other composers would not get to use it first. The name celesta comes from a French word meaning heavenly, which suits the sparkling music of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Even a heavenly sound did not win everyone over right away, though. Some critics in 1892 complained about the story and the dancing, but the music earned praise, and a suite of highlights Tchaikovsky had arranged earlier that year won applause. Tchaikovsky died in 1893, so he never saw what came next. Slowly the ballet spread: a San Francisco company is widely credited with the first full performance in the United States in 1944, and George Balanchine's 1954 production for New York City Ballet helped turn it into a holiday habit.

Once that habit took hold, theaters noticed, because a Nutcracker season can bring in many families who might not otherwise attend a ballet. Ballet schools usually supply the young performers, just as students of the Imperial Ballet School danced the children's roles in 1892. Every performance also keeps alive Tchaikovsky's gamble on a brand-new instrument. Not bad for a ballet with mixed reviews on opening night, and for a composer who died without knowing his sparkling secret would ring out in theaters every December for generations to come.

In 1891, the composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky made an odd request of his music publisher: buy him a brand-new instrument he had heard in Paris, and please keep it a secret! He worried that rival Russian composers might hear about it and use its sound before he did. The instrument was the celesta, invented only a few years earlier, and its name comes from a French word meaning "heavenly." Inside its wooden case, tiny hammers strike metal plates, making a glassy tinkle like raindrops made of silver. Tchaikovsky used that sound in The Nutcracker, the ballet whose glittering music still fills theaters every December. Its history shows how a work of art can begin as a gamble and slowly become a tradition.

That gamble came on December 18, 1892, when the ballet opened at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. Picture the scene: chandeliers glowing, an orchestra tuning up, and a sound still very new to audiences waiting to rise from the pit. The evening was a double bill, so the audience also watched Tchaikovsky's short opera Iolanta. The great choreographer Marius Petipa had planned the ballet's dances, but illness kept him from finishing, so his assistant Lev Ivanov completed the work. The story came from a tale published in 1816 by the German writer E. T. A. Hoffmann, as retold by the French author Alexandre Dumas. Students from the Imperial ballet school danced the children's roles, so young performers were part of that very first night.

Children stand at the heart of the story, too. At a Christmas Eve party, a girl named Clara receives a nutcracker, a tool for cracking nuts carved as a little soldier, and that night it comes to life. After a playful battle, she travels with it to the Land of Sweets, where the Sugar Plum Fairy dances to the celesta's shimmering tune. Hoffmann's original tale is stranger and more tangled, and its heroine is named Marie. Dumas's retelling, the version the ballet followed, made the story lighter, keeping the wonder while softening the shadows. That distinction matters, because adapting a story means deciding what an audience most needs to see.

A lighter story, however, did not guarantee a warm welcome. Reviews of the premiere were mixed, with some critics praising the music while others found the plot thin or the ballet uneven. Historians still debate how harshly to judge that first night: some call it a disappointment, while others note that the ballet stayed in Russian theaters afterward. The score, meanwhile, was already winning fans, since Tchaikovsky had arranged a suite of its pieces that audiences heard at a concert in March 1892, months before the ballet opened. The composer never saw the full story of its success, because he died in 1893, less than a year after the premiere.

That success took time, and the ballet's journey west was slower than you might guess. In 1944, more than fifty years after the Russian premiere, the San Francisco Ballet presented what is often described as the first full-length American production. A decade later, in 1954, choreographer George Balanchine staged a new version for New York City Ballet, and it became hugely popular. So why did it become a tradition, rather than just another ballet? Historians offer different explanations: some point to the Christmas Eve setting, which makes the story feel made for the season, while others credit Balanchine's polished production and the attention it received. The likeliest answer is that the setting, the staging, and the publicity all worked together.

Together, those forces created a December habit: today, ballet companies large and small perform it every year. For many companies, ticket sales from these shows help pay for the rest of their season, so a story about toys and sweets supports dancers all year long. Families often return year after year, and many young dancers take their first stage steps in the children's roles. Audiences watch swirling snowflakes and dances of chocolate, coffee and tea. Then the celesta enters, and the Sugar Plum Fairy's music twinkles through the hall. It is a lovely thought that a composer who begged to keep one instrument secret gave audiences a sound they now wait to hear every December.