Balanchine’s First Sugar Plum Fairy: Maria Tallchief
George Balanchine’s version of The Nutcracker premiered February 2, 1954, in a flurry of last-minute disasters. Maria Tallchief, Balanchine’s original Sugar Plum Fairy, found herself in the middle of the mess: Not only did her mint-green tutu arrive just hours before curtain, but her cavalier, André Eglevsky—who, in typical Balanchine fashion, had no understudy—suffered a […]