The usual festive trimmings, showing off the company's classical style, were on display in a swiftly paced medley of excerpts from the troupe's Tchaikovsky ballets.

But like all Tchaikovsky ballets, this one deals with good triumphing over evil.

He is active as a conductor (in symphonic repertoire, as well as collaborating with the Balletto del Sud in major Tchaikovsky ballets).

That period was heralded in 1947 by one of George Balanchine's Tchaikovsky ballets, "Theme and Variations."

In ballet he has conducted all three Tchaikovsky ballets for Birmingham Royal Ballet and English National Ballet.

Like all Tchaikovsky ballets, "The Nutcracker" depicts a struggle between good and evil, from a child's point of view.

When his Sleeping Beauty opens next Christmas, Bourne will have a full set of Tchaikovsky ballets.

The three famous Tchaikovsky ballets, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker, date from that time.

That work was created for the City Ballet's 1981 Tchaikovsky Festival, and typically it had not received the notice it deserved among so many other Tchaikovsky ballets.

He recorded all three Tchaikovsky ballets.