A balerina in a pink tutu is posing on pointe with one knee bent and her arms extended to the right. She is standing in front of a pink and blue draped background.
Photograph by Carl Van Vechten © Van Vechten Trust, Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Alicia Markova as the Sugar Plum Fairy. Photo by Carl Van Vechten, 1943.

Alicia Markova as the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker

Photo by Carl Van Vechten, 1943
Color slide

Although George Balanchine's The NutcrackerⓇ is seen as the definitive American production, Balanchine did not introduce the ballet to European or American soil. Alicia Markova, pictured here, holds the distinction of being the first Sugar Plum Fairy on both continents as she performed in the 1934 production in England before originating the role in the U.S. in 1940. Markova danced a version of the original 1892 choreography as staged by Nicholas Sergeyev.

: Jerome Robbins Dance Division

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