THE CLINTONS ARE NUTCRACKER nuts. At home in the White House, the Blue Room is ornamented with toy soldiers, nutcrackers and the Sugar Plum Fairy herself. Mantels elsewhere in the executive mansion are festooned with miniature dancers. And then there is the life-size Favorite Aunt—Chelsea Clinton herself, who's playing the role in this year's production of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker by the Washington Ballet. She may know the role by heart. After all, she saw her first Nutcracker when she was 2, and she has already performed in the ballet several times.
Now 16, Chelsea began dance classes when she was 4 and has attended the prestigious Washington School of Ballet since 1993. "She clearly enjoys ballet," says White House spokesman Neel Lat-timore. Legendary ballerina Maria Tallchief—who came to the White House Dec. 8 to collect a Kennedy Center Honors award—agrees. "Chelsea really looks beautiful onstage," she says. "She seems so happy to be dancing."
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