The Nutcracker

Tchaikovsky’s enchanting seasonal ballet, the third and last of his great ballets, appropriately concluded the suite of three ballets perforrmed by The Russian National Ballet this week. Nothing says Christmas quite like The Nutcracker. The simplicity of the story set to the splendour of Tchaikovsky’s score brings the Christmas reverie of a young girl to life and is studded with gorgeous set pieces like The Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy. Despite the contraints of a small stage, principal dancers Maria Sokolnikova and Nurlan Kinerbayev as Marie and her Prince were wonderful and the entire cast performed with joyful energy throughout, (with extra sparkle from Chinese Dolls, Eriko Noritake and Slava Tapkharov). Just magical from the Christmassy start to the moving final Grand Pas de Deux.

Theatre Royal Brighton, 11 December 2013

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