Sugar and spice and everything nice can describe just about every classical staging of the Christmas tradition The Nutcracker. Though the music holds many dark complexities, rarely are these musical layers explored by the choreographer and director. New York Theatre Ballet, however, manages to keep all the sweetness one can expect while also beginning to hint at the deeper undercurrents of Tchaikovsky’s music and evoking a strong sense of mystery and magic.  This is in large part to scenic designer/prop master Gillian Bradshaw-Smith’s excellent work, including a larger-than-life clock tower, which opens up to become a dreamy candy land, an oversized picture frame through which we see another world, and a massive snow owl that causes excited gasps from the children in the audience as he soars over their heads. This is a world where a little girl’s dreams come true and dance in front of her eyes, sometimes frightening but always enchanting.

The New York Theatre Ballet dancers have a well-deserved reputation for being fantastic actors. This is truly dance-theater, where the story being told is given the same value as the steps and the lines. Keith Michael’s choreography keeps this refreshingly multicultural company of dancers at once natural and ethereal. The movements are clean yet imaginative, executed by the dancers so effortlessly yet so robustly. Nothing is over-worked in the steps or overly complicated. Goes to show how a low attitude derriere can be extremely poetic when it is masterfully incorporated.

Any production has its value raised or lowered just by the costuming alone. Safe to say that as long as NYTB dancers are cloaked in Sylvia Taalsohn Nolan’s creations, their performances will be lifted to a nearly divine height. Nolan’s costumes are a thing of celestial beauty, storybook dreams come true.

Diana Byer, founder and Artistic Director of NYTB, has created a truly beautiful gift for ballet lovers of all ages in her company, catering to the youngest of the young, all ages are welcome -- which, it must be pointed out, speaks highly to the focus of the dancers. On the day I was in attendance, there wasn’t a quiet moment in the audience. Children screaming, crying and the usual sounds of a room filled with nearly 300 little ones never once threw the dancers off their game. This is a company who knows exactly what they are doing and who they are doing it for. Without arrogance or high ticket prices, New York Theatre Ballet brings world class artistry and a truly special experience to all.