During the Christmas season of 1977, CBS brought his highly acclaimed American Ballet Theatre production of Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet The Nutcracker to television. The production has remained to this day the most popular and most often shown television production of the work in the U.S. Mikhail Baryshnikov performed the title role, with Gelsey Kirkland as Clara.
The production was videotaped in Canada and premiered in the United States on the CBS Network. The Production moved to PBS, where it was shown annually every Christmas season for many years.
Nutcracker- Grand Pas de Deux