"Battle of the Nutcrackers"

December 7, 2014

What’s even better than seeing (or dancing in!) your local Nutcracker? Seeing different versions from top companies around the world, pitted against each other in an epic battle to determine the best of Sugar Plum greatness.

Ludovic Ondiviela and Elizabeth Harrod in The Royal Ballet’s The Nutcracker. (Photo by Johan Persson)

Ovation TV’s annual “Battle of the Nutcrackers” pits four different performances against each other and lets audience members vote for their favorites at OvationTV.com. The schedule is as follows:

The Nutcracker
(Youri Vámos; 2009) – Monday, December 15th, at 7AM ET

Royal Opera House’s The Nutcracker (2000) – Tuesday, December 16th, at 7AM ET

Bolshoi Ballet: The Nutcracker – Wednesday, December 17th, at 7AM ET

The Nutcracker
: Mariinsky 2012 – Thursday, December 18th, at 7AM ET

The winner airs – Wednesday, December 24th, at 8PM ET

Maria Kochetkova and Gennadi Nedvigin in San Francisco Ballet’s Nutcracker. (Photo by Erik Tomasson)

To get the friendly competition started, I asked my fellow DS editors about their favorite Nut:

Me: I love San Francisco Ballet‘s Nutcracker, mostly because of the incredible costumes.

Assistant editor Maggie McNamara: Pittsburgh Ballet Theater. Hometown pride!

Fashion editor Meggie Hermanson: The Joffrey Ballet. I’m also sticking with my hometown.

Editor in chief Margaret Fuhrer: Gotta go Balanchine!