As a child, Jennifer Lin’s mother loved ballet. The family lived in Philadelphia, and she often took Lin to see “The Nutcracker” performed by New York City Ballet.

Lin grew to love ballet, too — even studying dance as a dilettante — but she remembers feeling uncomfortable about the way Chinese culture was portrayed in “The Nutcracker,” especially in the Chinese Tea Dance.

Lin’s daughter, Cory Stieg, eventually became a serious ballet student, studying under Marilyn Budzynski at the Dance Theater of Pennsylvania in Doylestown.

“I was basically a dance mom. I was one of those moms who’s working backstage at ‘The Nutcracker,’” Lin said in a phone interview. “I think I have seen ‘The Nutcracker’ more than a hundred times because she danced her whole childhood.”

Lin, 66, a former journalist

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