Okay, so we are re-gifting this year’s holiday episode from our 2013 collection. But it’s only because we thought you’d like it! Please re-enjoy learning about this gorgeous, never-gets-old classic. And from all of us at Classical Classroom HQ: peace, joy, and ALL THE PRESENTS to you this year!

We all know The Nutcracker, right? Wrong! In this episode of Classical Classroom, Shelly Power (director, Houston Ballet Academy) and Michael Remson (executive director, AFA) blow your minds with the history of the ballet and a behind-the-scenes look at the massive undertaking that putting on the show entails every year.

All music in this episode from The Nutcracker:

• Score by Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky
• Original choreography by Marius Petipas and Lev Ivanov
• Libretto adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann’s story, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King

Audio production by Todd “Pas de Todd” Hulslander with sugarplum fairies dancing in her head by Dacia Clay.