Visions of sugar plums danced in their heads: The Nutcracker's lasting holiday appeal

A fairy-tale transformation, adorable dancing kids, sumptuous costumes, a major earworm of a scoreand famous faces making silly cameos it's easy to see why holiday classicThe Nutcracker is an audience favourite that's often billed the world's most performed ballet.

As the dance world's annual tradition returns to the stage, revived by myriad troupes for the holidays, we take a look at fun facts about the ballet.

From panned production to annual favourite

Most productions of The Nutcracker are derived from German author E.T.A.Hoffmann'sdark 1816 story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King andAlexandre Dumas'more family-friendly French adaptation of the tale from 1844.

Legendary choreographerMariusPetipacreated the very firstNutcracker ballet in Russia, with famed composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The duo had previously created the hit balletSleeping Beauty, so their new collaboration drew a sold-out audience to its premiere at St. Petersburg's MariinskyTheatre in December 1892.

However, that original Nutcracker was largely panned, drawing lukewarm reviews at best. Still, the Tsar at the time was a fan, so it stayed in the company's repertoire.Years later, famed Russians popularized the ballet abroad.

Today,The Nutcracker is ubiquitous in December, performed every year (especially in North America)and representinga significant chunk of annual ticket sales for many ballet companies.

Celebrity cameos

A fun tradition for many Nutcracker productions is inviting notable figures onstage for walk-on roles.In Canada, rock stars, authors, pro athletes, astronauts, politicians, media personalities and local heroes have all ventured onstage.

Famous faces have portrayed cannon dolls, party guests and even a moose in Canadian Nutcracker productions with guests includingMargaret Atwood,Rob Ford, Chris Hadfield and musician Steven Page.Hockey stars OlliJokinen andMatsSundin have even joined in the fun.

ProminentNutcracker cameos this year include Olympian PennyOleksiak, Kim's Convenience creator and star InsChoiand PaulSun-HyungLee, children's musician FredPennerand Winnipeg Blue Bomber Maurice Leggett.

Tchaikovsky's blockbuster

Tchaikovsky is known for countless classical blockbusters he's the guy behind the swoony music ofSwan Lake,theheartbreaking operaEugeneOneginand that bombastic1812 Overture,for starters.

Still, hisNutcrackerscorehas become one of his most famous compositions hardwired into the North American consciousness in part thanks to Walt Disney, who used the composer's condensed, concert-lengthNutcracker Suitefor his early animated movieFantasia.

Local flavour

But with so many Nutcracker productions around these days, how does one choose which to attend?

Customizing with local flavour is perhaps the most popular way companies create a standoutNutcracker for instance BalletJorgen'sultra-Canadian version, which features backdrops created from famous landscapes by artists like Tom Thompson and includes loons, bears, raccoons and other familiar Canuckcritters.

That the ballet's story centres on children also means that troupes performing The Nutcracker typically cast talented youngsters often from nearby dance schools to share the stagewith the Sugar Plum Fairy, her Cavalier, Clara and the Nutcracker himself.

Creative spin on a classic

Over the decades, countless choreographers have put their own personal stamp on The Nutcracker, includingballet giants GeorgeBalanchine,RudolfNureyevand MikhailBaryshnikov.

More recently, contemporary dance world figures such as Mark Morris, JamesKudelkaand Debbie Allen have all created refreshing reinterpretations of the original.