“It’s where ballerinas are born,” says Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre principal Julia Erickson about “The Nutcracker.” It’s a proving ground where core members get the opportunity to dance solos in hopes they might be elevated to soloist or principal. Danielle Downey, a member of the core, remembers seeing “The Nutcracker” performed by the Lake Erie Ballet when she was 6 years old. “I wanted to be on stage.” View The Gallery >

“I went down to the sa­cred store, where I’d heard the mu­sic years be­fore….” as one of the lines reads in Don McLean’s “Amer­i­can Pie.” To many young peo­ple, the “sa­cred store” has to be ex­plained, but to most peo­ple who grew up in the 20th cen­tury, it was a com­mon place, the neigh­bor­hood record store, where peo­ple went to hear mu­sic, buy mu­sic and talk about mu­sic. View The Gallery >