Balanchine's The Nutcracker™ Fun Facts
Did you know that.
- Each snowflake’s crown has 17 crystals. That’s 272 crystals for 16 snowflakes!
- There are over 200 costumes in the Alabama Ballet’s Balanchine Nutcracker™ production.
- All of the costumes were hand-made by our own costumer, Betty Smith and her team and are exact replicas of Barbara Karinska’s 1954 costumes.
- The Sugarplum Fairy had 53 crystals on her bodice with a 7-layer tulle skirt.
- Each Flower costume’s skirt has 3 layers of different colors and is made of 50 yards of fabric. That's 700 yards of fabric for 14 dancers!
- Each Candy Cane costume has 254 jingle bells.
- Marie and the Prince fly away in a 100 pound sleigh.
- The Alabama Ballet is one of 6 companies in the world commissioned by the Balanchine Trust to perform the Balanchine Nutcracker™.
- This will be Alabama Ballet's ninth season to perform the Balanchine Nutcracker™.
- As part of our outreach program, over 5,000 Birmingham school children experience Balanchine's Nutcracker™ for free through 2 special school performances.
- Repetiteur from the Trust, Darla Hoover, casts and rehearses both the company and the community cast so that our production indeed represents Mr. Balanchine’s standards.
