Bianca and Andrés discuss the Nutcracker Ballet by Tchaikovsky, the annual tradition that you either love or hate.

It get's "butts in seats," and it features surprise butts for people who have never seen ballet before.

For some ballet dancers, it's something they never want to hear again, for others, they enjoy taking part in the annual tradition.

We share the history, our own favorite moments and experiences, and break down the ballet scene by scene.

We discuss the best and worst moments in one of the most popular ballets.

Bianca and Andrés get into how it plays a role in the holiday season and shapes our view of dance in America.

Get to know Alex Ossadnik even more in this episode with new suspenseful stories about his time in the politically charged German Cold War ballet system.

In this episode, the sequence of events Alex talks about:

-Berlin wall comes down

-Alex goes to Germany to rehab his ankle, he's dealing with a major injury

-He talks us through the riveting audition he experienced in Bordeaux

-"1 Bagette a day"! in Bordeaux, a "Ritzy city."

You are a down-and-out kid in Cold War East Germany. How do you survive? Perfect feet get you into a government boarding school to train as a dancer under government sponsorship, and the adventure begins....

A fascinating and true story of how Bianca Lily Ballet's instructor Alex Ossadnik started his life and career in East Germany.

Auditions, performances, dance competitions, and political intrigue await!

Listen to the stories of misfortune and woe as well as providence and talent as Ossadnik prevailed as a young dancer.