The Nutcracker

Mar 17, 2017
The Nutcracker

The seasonal favourite, The Nutcracker is brought to the London Coliseum by the English National Ballet for the 2017 Christmas season – from 13th December 2017 through until 6th January 2018.

The basic story is that of a young German girl who dreams of a Nutcracker Prince and a fierce battle against a Mouse King with seven heads.

There are 5 “sections” to The Nutcracker, starting with the Party Scene, followed by the Fight Scene then the Land of Snow followed by the Land of Sweets and finally the Dream Ends.

The party is on Christmas Eve when the Stahlbaum’s annual festive party takes place, with friends and family. The Stahlbaum children, Clara and Fritz have their friends at the party too. Their godfather Drosselmeyer is a clock and toy maker, and he arrives with two life-size dolls.  His gift to Clara is a Nutcracker, which Fritz is jealous of and he snatches the nutcracker from his sister and breaks it.  Drosselmeyer quickly restores the nutcracker to its original form using his somewhat magical skills.  As the party comes to a close and everyone makes their way to bed, Clara decides she must check on her nutcracker and falls asleep by the Christmas tree with him in her arms.

Strange things happen as midnight strikes. The Christmas tree grows, Clara shrinks, the toys come to life, and the Mouse King enters the room leading his army of mice. The nutcracker leads his army of toy soldiers into battle against the mice, and there is a head-to-head battle between the Mouse King and the Nutcracker.

As the toy soldiers are captured by the army of mice, Clara is desperate and defeats the Mouse King with her slipper. The army of mice scatter, carrying the lifeless Mouse King with them.

With the defeat of the Mouse King, the Nutcracker changes into a Prince and he and Clara embark on a journey to the Land of Snow. After their visit to the enchanted Land of Snow they journey on to the Land of Sweets and they meet the Sugar Plum Fairy.  When she hears of their daring adventures and their battle with the mice, the fairy rewards them with a series of dances.

After the finale dance, the Dream Ends and Clara awakes to find herself by the Christmas tree with the Nutcracker.

This most enchanting of stories is brought to life on the stage with over 100 dancers and musicians, amazing dancing and Tchaikovsky’s wonderful music.

As an introduction to ballet for children, this must be the “go to” one to see, and as a wonderful Christmas treat, what could be better than the wonderful venue of the London Coliseum.

Tickets for The Nutcracker by the English National Ballet are now on sale, from just £25.

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