I love Christmas music. This is what really puts me in the spirit of the season. I love to sing carols, go to a children’s Christmas pageant, pull out my Barbara Streisand CD, watch a performance of Handel’s “Messiah” (even if it really should be done at Easter).

But ever since I was a little girl, there is one performance that absolutely makes me catch my breath, and believe in the magic of Christmas; Tchaikovsky’s ballet - ”The Nutcracker Suite”.

I know New Yorker’s probably think they have the penultimate viewing experience for any live performance, but here in Georgia we have the “Fabulous Fox Theatre”- which is magical enough for me. I first saw The Nutcracker when I was in elementary school. Not being interested in dance at the time (I took piano and voice), I didn’t know much about ballet; but I was transported into this magic kingdom of beauty and grace, and I pretended for months that I was Clara (and so did my Barbies.) Imagine how thrilled I was the next Christmas when my piano teacher assigned me to play “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” for our Christmas concert. I love to play it, still.

It became an annual event for my family. Then, when I was in middle school; my “gifted class” went for a night-time field trip. I had only ever been to the matinees! We dressed semi-formally for that evening, and I felt almost like Clara. Before I had only watched the performance, this year I read my program, too. There was a whole new magic to be found. The Spanish dancers were chocolate, the Chinese - tea, and the Mirliton dance – marzipan. I still remember that “marzipan” dance; the shepherdess came onto the stage tall as two men with a huge dress in bright colors. After she floated across the stage her skirt opened in the front like curtains to reveal several children dressed brightly to spin and twirl and leap. Having never eaten marzipan, I went home and begged my mother to please let me try some because I was so enchanted by that scene.

And then of course there was the Nutcracker Prince. As a girl just entering adolescence I was smitten that night. He was courageous, tender, handsome, and graceful. What more could a girl want? Although I have since seen the performance with Mikhail Baryshnikov, it is still the black haired prince that springs to mind when I hear the music. The spinning grande Pirouette `a la second seemed to go on forever. His Èchappè defied gravity and his grand Jetè rivaled the elegance of a gazelle. (No, I didn’t know these terms at the time).

Since that night I have seen many performances of The Nutcracker; some live, some (as in the extraordinary Baryshnikov’s version) on television. They are not always the same. Choreographers differ, dancers and ballerinas bring their own personal flair, costumes and scenery can be wild and fantastical or traditional and peaceful. But one thing remains constant; the tinkle of “The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” and all of the other beautiful, timeless pieces that Tchaikovsky so brilliantly wrote.

Now I am sharing that tradition with my daughter. We sat in front of the television last night mesmerized as Baryshnikov powered his way across the stage, but she actually enjoyed a lesser known version that featured Macaulay Culkin as the prince. It isn’t hard to figure out why, he was 13 when he played the part and she’s 11. That’s just about perfect for a crush.

One of the best things about The Nutcracker is that it doesn’t matter what religion you are to enjoy it. It’s ballet, there are no words to be offended by! It is sheer joy and fun, music and dance. It is one holiday tradition that can and has been shared by the world.