The project that almost didn't happen
It all started when Ivan Vsevolozhsky, the director of the Imperial Theatres on the wings of success of The Sleeping Beautiy, commissioned Mariinsky’s chief ballet master Marius Petipa and Peter Tchaikovsky, a composer, to create the ballet Casse-Noisette, based on the book by Dumas pere. Neither of the two great men liked the idea, although Petipa started half-heartedly working on the libretto. He discarded the dark aspect of the original tale and infused the story with joyful festivity in the Kingdom of the Sweets.
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.............Mariinsky Theater circa 1860
While Marius Petipa did start on choreography, he fell ill and was not able to complete the ballet. It was Lev Ivanov, assistant ballet master, who successfully carried the project to its completion. Czar Alexander the Third loved the ballet and while the audience loved it too, the critics were not so kind. Well, so much for critics 
Mariinsky's Nutcracker circa 1892
So here we have it, folks...
The Nutcracker
Choreography: Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov
Music: Peter I. Tchaikovsky
Libretto: Marius Petipa
World premiere: December 18, 1892. Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg, Russia
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