Just a couple months later, and guess what? Williamson’s donning a frothy white tutu and tiara to dance the part of the Sugar Plum Fairy in the company’s ornate rendition of The Nutcracker.

And, as The New York Times’s Joshua Barone reports, the way Tchaikovsky ultimately deployed the instrument in his famous “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” has echoed through musical history.

Since 1990, Miami City Ballet has brought a number of noteworthy ballerinas into the story’s lead. But the upcoming shows feature an incomparable Sugar Plum Fairy at a special juncture.

For 20 years, National Ballet of Canada principal dancer Heather Ogden has been performing the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy in the enduring holiday classic The Nutcracker. While Ogden estimates ...

Since 1990, Miami City Ballet has brought a number of noteworthy ballerinas into the story’s lead. But the upcoming shows feature an incomparable Sugar Plum Fairy at a special juncture.