Pot helps. It actually makes the show somewhat entertaining, with all the costumes and such.

Here are all 6 clips in this YouTube playlist showing the different versions we will broadcast next month. Soon, you'll have a chance to vote on our main website picking the viewers' choice winner to air Christmas Eve.

Go ahead and tell us, what do you think?

Bejart's is gorgeous! Mark Morris' is pretty fun too.

i'm new

the version that works for me is the one that  is george balachine and stars Macaulay cukin

While I am enjoying all of these versions, why is there no Pacific NW ballet version with the marvelous costumes and scenery by Maurice Sendak? This is a classic story and this version is one of my favorites!

Hi there,

The PNB version with sets by Maurice Sendak is Nutcracker Version #4 in this battle, called "Nutcracker: The Motion Picture".

We're big fans at Ovation TV too -- but the Baryshnikov version hasn't been gettable for this year or last.  Already working on it for 2009, and it's looking more hopeful. 

although I like the novel approach of Mark Morris's interpretation I'm going traditional and voting for the Balanchine Nutcracker. I think the choreography and costumes are beautiful. Bejart's lost me a third of the way through, and although I love Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake interpretation his Nutcracker didn't thrill me. The Bolshoi one is seriously dated and not in a good way and the movie version with Sendak's sets is okay mostly because of his sets.

My absolutely favorite Nutcracker of all time is definitely Balanchine, though Baryshnikov is a close second. I danced in Miami City Ballet's production of Balanchine's Nutcracker for 8 years, and it was positively unforgettable. The choreography is fantastic, and it requires so much technique even out of the children, who are so young and natural. Yes, it's traditional, but the classical choreography is, in my opinion, superior. I wish they didn't use Macaulay Caulkin in the movie though; he's always seemed a bit stilted to me.

The Baryshnikov version was the first I saw as a child. It was on tv back in the late 50's, I think. I've read reviews that basically say that it was not that inspired. It's all about the early memories anyway.

I watched Bejart's version last night. My first inclination was to say in dismay "This is the Nutcracker?" However, art is art, and there will always be interpretations. Just not my favorite.

Work on getting the Baryshnikov version next year!