For Christmas, my sister got me a ticket to Ballet West's production of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker. The world's best known ballet. I loved it! The first act had a lot more children, especially little boys, than I am used to. Fighting the Rat King was an army of little soldiers and the Rat King's death scene was hilariously over-the-top.The costumes were magnificent. When the Snow Queen made her appearance I was stunned at the brilliance of her costume. And as the first "real" ballerina on the program, after almost the entire first act, it was the performance I had been waiting for. Other highlights for me included Mother Ginger, the Chinese Tea dancers (which in this instance included a Chinese Parade Dragon), and the Russian Candy Cane dancers (5 men dressed in traditional Russian garb dancing traditional Russian folk dance).
Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier
Snow Queen and Prince 
Sugar Plum Cavalier
Snowflakes and Snow Queen
The Rat King
Rat/Soldier Battle
Mother Ginger and Polichinelles
ChineseParadeDragon 
Arabian Coffee Dancers
