Thread by @Reuters

Unwrapping the success of 'The Nutcracker': As the performing arts sector struggles to recover from the pandemic, the ballet world can return to its guaranteed money-maker this holiday season: 'The Nutcracker.' @ReutersGraphics shares the secret 🩰🎄 tmsnrt.rs/3JhlaVp 1/6

Public engagement is essential for the industry and the holiday staple attracts almost as many audience members as the rest of the year's shows combined. The New York City Ballet makes about 45% of its annual ticket sales from its roughly five-week run of 'The Nutcracker' 2/6

The NYCB stepped back onto the stage this fall after opting to stream a 2019 recording of the performance last year. The live show marks a return to the 66-year-old tradition of performing 'The Nutcracker' for New Yorkers and tourists alike tmsnrt.rs/3JhlaVp 3/6

One likely answer explaining its success is 'The Nutcracker' was the first production to include young students, and to this day involves more children than any other NYCB production 4/6

Much of the NYCB founder George Balanchine’s life work was directed toward making ballet popular in the United States. And he saw children as the key to that endeavor: get children engaged with the art and it involves their whole families tmsnrt.rs/3JhlaVp 5/6

'It leads to more support down the road. When kids see the production, they grow up and put their kids in ballet because they have this appreciation for ballet simply by going to see ‘The Nutcracker’ once a year,' Stafford said. Read more: tmsnrt.rs/3JhlaVp 6/6