The Conservatory of Dance & Theatre presents its fourth annual production of The Nutcracker ballet at the Ashe Civic Center in West Jefferson, on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Performances are also scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 6, and Sunday, Dec. 7, in Galax, Va. The musical score of The Nutcracker by Peter Tchaikovsky is perhaps the most beloved music composed for a ballet.

Conceivably the best Russian composer of all time, Tchaikovsky was a genius for creating melodies, mastering musical structure, and developing musical drama.

Born in Votkinsk, in the Ural Mountains of European Russia, Tchaikovsky started piano at the age of seven, but only showed signs of musical talent when he was 19 years old.

At 19, Tchaikovsky began studying music theory and composition. When the great Nicholas Rubinstein founded the Moscow Conservatory, he hired Tchaikovsky as an instructor.

Tchaikovsky's works did not please the world immediately. Even the best of his works today were first thought of as noise. His famous Swan Lake was a total failure to critics and listeners at its premier.

In December of 1891, some 30 years after he decided to be a composer, Tchaikovsky's new opera Pique Dame (The Queen of Spades) so impressed the Imperial Opera Directorate in Russia that he was promptly commissioned to write a ballet for the following season.

The ballet was to be based on E.T.A. Hoffman's story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, a selection which Tchaikovsky disliked. Nevertheless, he began work in early 1892 and completed the music later that summer.
In 1892, the first showing of The Nutcracker took place at the Mariinsky Theatre of Russia, home of the Kirov Ballet. In 1893, less than a year after the premier of The Nutcracker, Tchaikovsky died during a cholera epidemic. The Nutcracker made its way to Western Europe in the 1930's and to America by 1940, performed by Ballet Russe. The first American full length Nutcracker was performed by the San Francisco Ballet, choreographed by W. Christensen.

The people of America, and soon all of Europe saw Tchaikovsky as a very talented composer, as they went back to seek what other works of his were stunning to the ear. To their pleasant surprise, their answer was all of them. The most beloved and famous of Tchaikovsky's works today, The Nutcracker, is one of great beauty, hiding a special memory with emotional feeling in the hearts of the listeners. The Nutcracker has since become an annual Christmas tradition.

Tickets are $12 for adults and $5 children 13 and under. All seating is reserved. Tickets are on sale at the Ashe County Arts Council in West Jefferson or by calling (336) 846-2787.