NEW YORK — We all know it. The enchanting melody of “The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” from Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker,” which returns to New York City Ballet on Friday for its annual run through Dec.

Attending a performance of “The Nutcracker” is a holiday highlight for people of all ages around the world, in no small part due to the Sugar Plum Fairy. While she’s only on stage about twenty minutes ...

Delicate as a music box and bright as a winter star, the bell-like chimes of Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" signal pure Christmas magic, evoking images of graceful, twirling ballerinas ...

With its sparkling celesta and dreamlike rhythm, “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” has become a sonic hallmark of Christmas. But its festive identity is a modern invention. Born in a 19th-century ...

In the 1890s, when the Russian composer Tchaikovsky was preparing to write the music for the ballet that would become his holiday classic, “The Nutcracker,” he encountered a brand-new instrument: the ...

Weeks ahead of “George Balanchine’s ‘The Nutcracker,’ ” the Sugar Plum Fairy is getting ready to entertain. Her wand at hand, she has magic to command. At her palace in the Land of the Sweets the ...