George Balanchine's wonderful choreography of this beloved holiday story is still the best ever created, and Ian Falconer's design of period sets and whimsical costumes helps make this the most charming version of this classic Nutcracker you can ever expect to see.

And in case you think it might be too sweet for you, when I attended, Angelica Generosa as the Sugar Plum Fairy, and Jonathan Batista as her Cavalier were absolutely electric. Their super-charged eye contact as they twirled and entwined with each other was the grownup version of holiday delight.

Yet this is the evening when all the youngsters in the PNB dance program get to come onstage and charm you with their skips and dances. In Act 1, they perform reels with the grownups at a Christmas party and later, after the creepy midnight magic begins, they march as toy soldiers and stuffed animals under a mysteriously growing Christmas tree.

The Nutcracker (danced by the elegant Beckett Westcott) comes to life to fight off a many-headed Mouse King (Zsilas Michael Hughes). As he defends young Clara (the lovely Caroline Antone), she saves the day by throwing her slipper at the Mouse King, who rolls around in a creepily hilarious death throe.

Together Clara and the Nutcracker arrive in the Land of Sweets, where they sit on the throne to be entertained by gliding angels, hoop-jumping candy canes, and dancing dolls ("Polichinelles") that emerge from underneath Mother Ginger's enormous skirts. You don't have to be the parents of one of the 60 kids who appear in The Nutcracker to be awed and delighted by their talent. These young pros in training inspired Balanchine's creations, and you can see how cleverly he geared his sophisticated dances to the skill level of each growing dancer.

My personal favorite among the abundance of gorgeous adult dances is the Waltz of the Flowers, in which the Dewdrop (Elle Macy) leads 14 dancers—costumed in layers and layers of gently floating petals—in a kaleidoscopic variation of movements that any military band would envy. But it's a waltz, so if you can imagine that flower petals can fall softly to earth in Fibonacci sequences, then you can imagine the mesmerizing delight of the Waltz of the Flowers. And this is but one of the heart-lifting dances you will see in the Land of Sweets.

Ever since Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker ballet premiered at the Marinsky Theater in St. Petersburg in 1892, this delightful Christmas event has been the holiday destination for everyone who wants to enter into the season in a wonderful mood. Yes, we're crazy-busy and yes, we have too much on our plates—but there's always time for the uncomplicated pleasures of music, dance, and good storytelling. This is PNB's holiday gift to the world: what director Peter Boal (one of Balanchine's original Nutcrackers) gives to Seattle and to dance lovers every holiday season. Don't wait another year to see it!