Debbie Allen’s The Hot Chocolate Nutcracker (2010) fuses ballet with tap, flamenco, hip hop and gymnastics in fantastical settings such as Candy Cane Land, Jazzland and the Land of the Kimono Dolls.

The Hip Hop Nutcracker (2014) is set in New York City and juxtaposes Tchaikovsky’s classical score with hip-hop choreography created by Jennifer Weber, artistic director of Brooklyn-based hip-hop troupe Decadancetheatre.

Mark Morris’ The Hard Nut (1991) turns the holiday classic on its head with party dances that include the hokey pokey and the bump, G.I. Joes leading the charge in the battle scene and nontraditional gender casting.

Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker! (1992) sees the heroine, Clara, travel from a miserable orphanage to the zany Sweetieland, where she has to fight her obnoxious rival Sugar for the affections of the Nutcracker prince.

Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker! Photo by Simon Annand, courtesy of New Adventures