Getting To The Nutcracker

Every Christmas season, The Nutcracker ballet is performed in cities all over the world. We love the timeless story, but what does it really take to produce this ballet each year?

The documentary film Getting to The Nutcracker takes you inside the Herculean effort involved in gathering the resources, assembling the volunteers, casting the dancers, rehearsing and staging the performances of this classic ballet. 

Director Serene Meshel-Dillman, a former dancer at the School of American Ballet and commercial television producer, shows you an intimate, behind-the-curtain view of the dancers, their teachers and families.

Los Angeles-based Marat Daukayev School of Ballet, led by the former Kirov star, allowed us to record everything; the auditions, the rigorous hours of training and rehearsals, the joy of landing a principal role and the pain of losing one. The ballet dancers (boys and girls ages 3 to 18) are profiled; passionate people who, with their families, make incredible sacrifices of time and money just so that they may dance.

Best of all, you get to know these dancers. You hear about their dreams and share their triumphs and countless unexpected turns. You see it all, from talented teen artists with a future in dance to the younger, sweet children excitedly taking their turns on the stage.

Winner of the Audience Award at the 2014 Kansas International Film Festival.