Nutcracker

 This time of year I love watching the Nutcracker. It's really the only time of year that ballet takes a prominent position in our mainstream cultural awareness.  If I can't get to a live performance, I can usually count on seeing a performance on Public Television.  I've lately noticed that ballet photographs are often in the New York Times Arts section.  It seems like that's really the only place I see ballet images on a regular basis.  And the photo are always fantastic.