Watch 11-year-old Athan Sporek, who plays the Nutcracker Prince, perform the pantomime scene in which he describes the fierce battle with the Mouse King – and how Marie saves the day – for The Sugarplum Fairy, here played by Principal Dancer Sara Mearns, and her kingdom. Experience the magic of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® only through DEC 30: nycballet.com/nutcracker | New York City Ballet

The battle scene in The Nutcracker is full of epic surprises in oversized proportions. No one would ever recover from a human-plus sized mice in the living room (not to mention one with seven heads!), but for the magic of The Nutcracker, it works! PNB’s mice were designed by Ian Falconer and built by Andor Studio in Seattle. Erik Andor creates all kinds of specialty costumes, puppets, and more for theater and film. Fun fact: the whiskers on PNB’s mice are made from weed whaker string! Learn more