Ballet review: With luck, Los Angeles Ballet gets ‘The Nutcracker’ right

Ballet has its centuries-old rules, still scrupulously followed on stages around the globe. But even with rules in firm effect, a performance still relies on artistry and luck.
Los Angeles Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” hews to this ballet’s cherished traditions, mostly.
LAB’s version, in its 14th year, choreographed by Thordal Christensen and Colleen Neary, uses most of the original story, choreographed in 1892 by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. LAB retains Pyotr Ilyich T