8 Magical Facts About ‘The Nutcracker’

Every holiday season, hordes of people who barely ever think about ballet show up to watch their local dance company perform a magical tale complete with evil mice, dancing desserts, and the most dazzling anthropomorphic blizzard that ever existed. It’s The Nutcracker, composed by Russia’s Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky—of Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty fame—and for many people, Christmas isn’t really Christmas without it.

 Here are eight facts about its origins and legacy.