Nutcracker

English National Ballet - London Coliseum

The production value creates the most stunning dream and brings the story together. However, the most climatic and dramatic part of the story is short lived.

'The Nutcracker' is one of the most iconic ballets and a Christmas experience that everyone should watch at least once in their life. It's the perfect gateway to ballet theatre. The music composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is legendary and if you think you've never heard any of the music from his score; I guarantee you will recognise at least a section of the score.

That being said, the audience's expectations of any production of the ballet will and should always be high, simply due to the importance and beauty of the piece. Especially when being performed by The English National Ballet, who have celebrated their 75 years this year and their name holds prestige with its history of creating fantastic ballet. For 75 years! Expectations will always be high. The story is centered around a young girl 'Clara' and her beautiful dream sparked by her interesting Christmas gift, a nutcracker figure. We meet a number of interesting, colourful characters in her dream, based on people and moments in her life. The beauty comes from how the dream shows Clara growing into a young woman, is starting to experience attraction, and wants to find love in the future. It's very wholesome. How does this production capture the vibrance of the story and honour the legendary score with its choreography? Let's dive into it!

Aaron S Watkin (Artistic Director of English National Ballet) and Arielle Smith worked together to choreograph the production this year. The choreography captures the beauty and many intricate elements of the story. The 'Sugar Plum Fairy' and her partner's section of the choreography shows the elegance and vibrance of her character. The way her partner supports her in numerous picturesque lifts and turns: it illustrates her honourable and noble character in Clara's dream. Whilst each choreographed section in the variety of suites shows a different style of choreography, characterisation and dynamic. However, the huge variety of suites back- to- back sometimes can give the feel of a dance display and can lose the flow of the story. Clara seems to spend more time watching her dream unwind before her, she does not interact enough with each group for it to feel at times she is a part of the action and what it means to her.

Clara within the dream is played by Haruhi Otani and her display of the movements beautifully show Clara's adolescence, naivety and curiosity. Her movements transition from smooth whilst appreciating the beauty of her dream, to fast and strong in moments of excitement, this shows her mind opening and how she is experiencing new thoughts and feelings. One interesting choice made in this piece is the inclusion of young Clara (Played by Millicent Honour) running into a group of Suffragettes (votes for women protesters) in her real world at the start of the piece and how she and her mother interact and follow in their direction. The Suffragettes help Clara in the dream defeat the Rat King and this portrays Clara finding independence, confidence in herself and starting to form her own opinions of society. This was a lovely touch that gives a sense of female power and how important it is to support what you believe in.

One thing I'm sure every audience member can agree on is that set, and costume bought 'The Nutcracker' and dream world to life. The attention to detail in every stitch to prop was highly admirable. However, it is no secret that The English National Ballet has a HUGE team of costume designers all over the country that work on the stunning costumes, from the beautiful snow drop costumes to the sweets! Dick Bird is the set and costume designer of this production. He has truly sliced Clara's mind open and given the audience a glimpse into what is inside, how moments of the day have influenced her dream and her thoughts. For instance, in the real-world Clara goes to a sweet shop and tries a sugar plum sweet. These sweets glow and are a vibrant plum colour. This highlights an important moment to the audience. Within the dream the sweet jars are bought to life and the sugar plum fairy is the exact vibrant colour of the sweet. There are so many sections in the show where props and set bring to life these moments in Clara's day. It's extraordinary!

This production of The Nutcracker has put so much detail into Clara's mind and bringing her dream to life, but moments of choreography do not seem to match the attention to detail, such as The Nutcracker himself. You lose the sense that he is a nutcracker, and he turns into a real man. There is no reminder that he is a toy and his character is completely different to when he was the toy. It's so easy to forget he is the nutcracker. This draws you more to Clara, though, she is the most important character in the piece. The moments in the piece that highlight Clara's independence/strength is admirable and empowering for young women! This production carries the beauty of the dream, it truly is a great ballet to introduce yourself to ballet theatre. However, I do not believe this holds all the glory of the piece and the moments outside the dream could be a bit more vibrant, energetic and characterised, this would give clearer indications of how the people in her life influence the dream characters.