The Nutcracker is performed by more than 700 dance companies in cities round the world, but the wintery ballet perennial doesn't arrive to stages by the magic of sugar-plum fairies alone.
With Serene Meshel-Dillman's behind-the-scenes documentary, we see the Los Angeles-based Marat Daukayev School of Ballet get cracking, from gathering resources to auditioning to casting to rehearsing and, finally, to staging the holiday fave.