Brooklyn Ballet: The Brooklyn Nutcracker

Brooklyn Ballet's take on The Nutcracker, choreographed by artistic director Lynn Parkerson, emphasizes cultural and artistic diversity. Alongside sequences that hew to the classic 19th-century tradition are interludes featuring street dance, flamenco, belly dancing, Chinese dance, hoop dance, hip-hop and the Hopak, a traditional Ukrainian dance. The 2025 edition features Michael “Big Mike” Fields as a pop-and-lock Drosselmeyer amd Brian "HallowDreamz" Henry as a krumping Rat King, along with Aliesha Bryan, the Eva Dance Studio, Sira Melikian, ShanDien LaRance, George Sanders and Dance Theatre of Harlem alums Kamala Saara, Derek Brockington, Kouadio Davis and Crystal Serrano. Live music is proviced by beatboxer Baba Israel, violinist Zafir Tawil, accordionist Mikhail Smirnoff, drummer Paula Green and dizi floutist Yimin Miao.