Tchaikovsky completed the music for the ballet in April 1892. Rehearsals started in September 1892. Petipa fell ill and his assistant Lev Ivanov completed the dances. The ballet was first performed on 18 December 1892 at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. Tchaikovsky's one-act opera "Iolanta" was played before the curtain rose on "The Nutcracker". The run ended in 1893 after eleven performances.