The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy is a piece featured in Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker. The Nutcracker and the Mouse King itself was written by E. T. A. Hoffman, with the adaptation by Alexandre Dumas being set to music by Tchaikovsky. Towards the end of the story the Nutcracker turns into a prince, taking the heroine, Clara Stahlbaum, to the land of the Sugar Plum Fairy (which features The Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy). The Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy featured a novelty: an instrument called a celesta. Although the celesta looks similar to a piano (as it also has a keyboard), metal plates instead of strings are hit by the hammers, giving the instrument a very soft, bell-like resonance. This characteristic sound was perfect for the Sugar Plum Fairy, and the celesta is forever associated with The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Many pieces of The Nutcracker also featured in Disney’s film Fantasia.