AllMovie

This performance by the Mark Morris Dance Group provides the viewer with a fresh look at Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. Part of the Great Performances series from PBS, this innovative, iconoclastic adaptation of the Christmas favorite features dancers in nontraditional costumes. Flapper dresses, go-go boots, leather, and hip huggers are some of the styles worn by the performers on the minimalist set. Gone are the toy soldiers, and in their place are Barbie dolls and G.I. Joe lookalikes. The production takes its inspiration from the source book by E.T.A. Hoffman, The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. The beloved music of Tchaikovsky remains the constant in this otherwise distinctively contemporary take on a Christmas classic.