Do you have an experience that is similar to or related to the one described in the text? Write a narrative that describes your experience and includes relevant details and is clearly structured.

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Arts
How The Nutcracker became a holiday classic

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kids in costume do ballet onstage
Image 1. Young dancers perform in the Moscow Ballet's staging of The Nutcracker.The ballet was first staged in the United States in 1944. Over the past 75 years, it has become a holiday tradition to see a performance. Photo courtesy of Moscow Ballet
By Washington Post, adapted by Newsela staff
Published:12/11/2019
Word Count:391
There is a show called The Nutcracker. It was done for the first time in 1892 in Russia.

Some people did not like it. Some said the fight part was bad. Others said the costumes were dull. The music writer called the show boring.

One thing people loved was the music. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote the music. His name is pronounced chai-kov-ski. People still love his music.

Things changed over the years. People started to see The Nutcracker every year. The show tells the story of a nutcracker that comes to life on Christmas Eve. He fights the Mouse King.

First Ballet
For some children, it is their first ballet. Ballet is a kind of dance.

Mr. Tchaikovsky might be surprised. People love The Nutcracker now. It has more shows than many other ballets.

In the United States, people love the show. It is having its 75th anniversary in the U.S. The first whole show in America was in 1944.

a portrait of an old white manZoom-in
Image 2. The Russian composer Pyotor Tchaikovsky around 1890. Tchaikovsky lived from 1840 to 1893. He was the first Russian composer to establish a reputation with Western audiences. Photo by: Rischgitz/Getty Images

Moscow Ballet is a group that does Great Russian Nutcracker. The group is traveling around North America. It will have shows in 144 places. The ballet group lets young dancers be in the show.

Corbin Holloway is a young dancer. He is doing his sixth Nutcracker part with Moscow Ballet. His first one was when he was 7 years old. He had not started ballet classes then. Now he has a bigger part. He will dance in shows in Maryland.

The Hardest Dance
Corbin picked ballet because it was the hardest dance. He practices every day. Corbin can do full turns on one foot. He dances in big contests now.

Lorraine Spiegler works at CityDance in Maryland. Corbin is a student there. Ms. Spiegler said Corbin is very good.

Adley Strider is a young dancer. She said she found her love for ballet when she was 6 or 7 years old. She is from Virginia. Adley said she was not the best at ballet but she got better. She did not give up.

Now she is 11 years old. Adley was in Moscow Ballet's shows in Virginia.

Adley and Corbin think other kids will like The Nutcracker.