--- title: Remembering the Joy of My First Nutcracker description: In a year when people can't see the Nutcracker in person, Mikhail Baryshnikov remembers the first production he choreographed. canonical: https://time.com/5922684/mikhail-baryshnikov-remembering-nutcracker/ author: Mikhail Baryshnikov article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-12-18T12:00:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-30T12:58:49.238Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Mikhail Baryshnikov: Remembering the Joy of My First Nutcracker in This Difficult Year og:description: "I believed Tchaikovsky’s magical score could carry such a deeper, darker story." og:url: https://time.com/5922684/mikhail-baryshnikov-remembering-nutcracker/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt17dc972a30562380/698a157016d8847a81c38eff/mikhail-baryshnikov-the-nutcracker-1977.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: mikhail-baryshnikov-the-nutcracker-1977 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mikhail Baryshnikov: Remembering the Joy of My First Nutcracker in This Difficult Year twitter:description: "I believed Tchaikovsky’s magical score could carry such a deeper, darker story." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt17dc972a30562380/698a157016d8847a81c38eff/mikhail-baryshnikov-the-nutcracker-1977.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Mikhail Baryshnikov: Remembering the Joy of My First Nutcracker in this Difficult Year by [Mikhail Baryshnikov](https://time.com/author/mikhail-baryshnikov/) and [Lisa Rinehart](https://time.com/author/lisa-rinehart/) Dec 18, 2020 12:00 PM UTC  Mikhail Baryshnikov in the air during the premier of the Nutcracker at New York City's Metropolitan Opera House, May 1977 Mikhail Baryshnikov in the air during the premier of the Nutcracker at New York City's Metropolitan Opera House, May 1977Frank Leonardo—New York Post Archives/NYP Holdings, Inc./Getty Images by [Mikhail Baryshnikov](https://time.com/author/mikhail-baryshnikov/) and [Lisa Rinehart](https://time.com/author/lisa-rinehart/) Dec 18, 2020 12:00 PM UTC In 1975 I was sick with a cold when Daryl Dodson, the general manager of [American Ballet Theater](https://www.abt.org/), came to my room at the Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C. and asked if I would make a _Nutcracker_ for the company. I must have been feverish because eventually I said yes. I’d never choreographed, or even staged a ballet before, but ABT needed a commercial success and that meant a _Nutcracker_. Daryl said it was a personal request from the director and founder of ABT, Lucia Chase. I didn’t feel like no was an option. My plan was to set what I remembered from the [Vasily Vainonen version](https://www.mariinsky-theatre.com/performance/mariinsky%5FNutcracker%5FVainonen/) I knew as a child in Riga, but to add a psychological twist to the plot. Instead of a fantastical dream, I wanted it to be a coming-of-age story for Clara; her premonition that girlhood will come to an end and the flicker of fear she feels with that realization. I believed Tchaikovsky’s magical score could carry such a deeper, darker story. Of course, I had no clue how to get this idea on to the stage. My memories of _Nutcracker_ were those of a nervous boy waiting in the wings in my little soldier’s costume. The heat of the lights, the smell of powder, the waves of glorious music…it was happiness, not dark at all. Later, at about 12, I danced one of the divertissements in the second act, a little trio with two girls. Nerve wracking, but still thrilling. Then, at 18, I danced the _Cavalier_ in a graduation year performance at the Kirov Theater in Leningrad. I tried my best, but after the show the director of the school pointedly came backstage and said I overacted, under danced and smiled much too much. I believe he was right. The lesson was; even a crowd pleaser like the _Nutcracker_ needs a bit of depth. In the 70s, ABT was already a dance company with extraordinary artistic depth. Young, enthusiastic dancers could easily be rambunctious children at the party and then dance the hell out of the divertissements. Older, veteran dancers could imbue the Stahlbaums, the King of Mice, and, of course, Drosselmyer, with weight and humor so that those characters became integral to the ballet. And every cast of Clara and the Prince plumbed their own experiences to make their roles three-dimensional and truthful. I was extraordinarily lucky and still remember the entire process with gratitude. Many have told me that [watching the film of ABT’s _Nutcracker_](https://www.amazon.com/Nutcracker-Baryshnikov-Kirkland-Charmoli/dp/B0002S6428) is a sort of holiday ritual for them and their families. That makes me incredibly happy. In this _annus horribilis_ (to quote her Majesty the Queen), I can only hope that that ritual might still bring some joy. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5922684/mikhail-baryshnikov-remembering-nutcracker/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5922684/mikhail-baryshnikov-remembering-nutcracker/"},"headline":"Mikhail Baryshnikov: Remembering the Joy of My First Nutcracker in this Difficult Year","datePublished":"2020-12-18T12:00:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-30T12:58:49.238Z","description":"In a year when people can't see the Nutcracker in person, Mikhail Baryshnikov remembers the first production he choreographed.","url":"https://time.com/5922684/mikhail-baryshnikov-remembering-nutcracker/","keywords":["Culture"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt17dc972a30562380/698a157016d8847a81c38eff/mikhail-baryshnikov-the-nutcracker-1977.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mikhail Baryshnikov","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/mikhail-baryshnikov/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Lisa Rinehart","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lisa-rinehart/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt17dc972a30562380/698a157016d8847a81c38eff/mikhail-baryshnikov-the-nutcracker-1977.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"mikhail-baryshnikov-the-nutcracker-1977","caption":"Mikhail Baryshnikov in the air during the premier of the Nutcracker at New York City's Metropolitan Opera House, May 1977","creditText":"Frank Leonardo—New York Post Archives/NYP Holdings, Inc./Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/culture/","name":"Culture"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5922684/mikhail-baryshnikov-remembering-nutcracker/","name":"Mikhail Baryshnikov: Remembering the Joy of My First Nutcracker in this Difficult Year"}}]}] ```