REVIEW The Nutcracker by the Russian State Ballet and Opera House Wyvern Theatre

MY daughter is studying Matthew Bourne’s version of the Nutcracker for GCSE dance, so I thought I would take her to see a more traditional production.

The ballet opens with the Stahlbaum family and their friends celebrating Christmas. The daughter, Marie (usually Clara) is given a nutcracker doll by her godfather Drosselmeyer, a magician. She and her brother fight over it, and it gets broken. Later that night, Marie comes downstairs to see her doll, but at the stroke of midnight, strange things happen and the doll comes to life. After doing battle with the Mouse King and his army of mice, the Nutcracker is transformed into a handsome prince and takes Marie on a magical journey. At the end, we see Marie wake up, with the doll in her arms... it has all been a dream.

The Christmas scenes are charming and humourous, especially when the drunken male guests stagger home after the party. The mice raise a smile too, as one of them scurries around with an enormous wedge of cheese.

The mood changes when we get to the land of the snowflakes, which is beautiful, with the dancers in long white tutus, twirling and leaping, almost hovering in the air when doing grand jetes, in perfect time with each other. The falling snow is very effective.

All the well known music is in the second half, including the dance of the Sugarplum Fairy, which every little girl in the audience (and there were many, all dressed up for the occasion) aspires to be; but my favourite must be the pas de deux, which was stunning, with the lifts and balances and turns.

The dancing is superb (especially Marie) and the costumes are sumptuous. And although the choreography seems simpler than I remember I think that made it more family friendly, and a perfect introduction to the ballet. - SUE COCKREM