When the brilliant tap maverick Michelle Dorrance last let her Nutcracker Suite out of the bag—at no less than the White House for Christmas 2023—the fallout was immediate. As soon as the First Lady posted a clip on Instagram, Fox News and the New York Post pounced: men and women in glittery duds and poofy floral headwear tapping and snapping were surely a left-wing plot. That’s reason enough to show up. But another is Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s genius arrangement of the Tchaikovsky. Where the Russian composer is sweet, the jazzman is suave. Where the ballet twirls, the big band suite slinks and swings. Both versions pop with color: a beautiful dream of multicultural harmonizing that Dorrance and her co-choreographer Josette Wiggan transmit through musical feet in delightfully outlandish ensemble numbers and a bounty of outstanding tap solos. —Apollinaire Scherr