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A favorite holiday suite

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Photo by Photo courtesy of the Dance Factory

The Dance Factory will perform "The Nutcracker" ballet in Delavan and Whitewater during December.

The Dance Factory performs "The Nutcracker" ballet in Delavan and Whitewater this month. Photo courtesy of the Dance Factory.

Hear Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky's score and you almost always think of Christmas, even in the middle of July. "The Nutcracker" is a seasonal classic ballet first performed 120 years ago.

Even though it's based on the story "The Nutcracker and the King of Mice" written by E.T.A. Hoffman, the ballet onstage differs in details from the original story. But the basic plot of the little girl, her nutcracker prince, a mouse king, and a wondrous land of sweets, remains the same.

Tchaikovsky's score has been used in TV commercials, arranged by Duke Ellington, and played by groups as varied as the London Symphony Orchestra and the Pet Shop Boys.

The ballet itself, which premiered in St. Petersburg on Dec.18,1892, has been produced for television and filmed for the big screen. It has also been regularly performed by countless ballet companies during the Christmas season since the 1960s.

This month, you can see the ballet performed by The Dance Factory several times:

Sat. Dec. 8 and 22, at 7:30 p.m., and Sat., Dec. 29 at 2 p.m., all at The Grand Room of Lake Lawn Resort, 2400 E. Geneva St., Delavan. For reservations, call (262) 728-7950.

Sat., Dec. 15 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., at Young Auditorium, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, 930 W. Main St., Whitewater. For tickets, call (262) 472-2222 or online at www.uww.edu/youngauditorium