At last, I get to see The Nutcracker from Northern Ballet, in fact it is the first time I have seen it performed by anyone. My appetite was whetted three years ago when I was fortunate enough to visit the home of the dance company to watch them rehearse for the 2022 version and write an article for Welcome To Leeds. I was stunned by all of the hard work which went into getting the detail just right. The constant repetition of moves, both solo and as groups, was mind-blowing, both in their physicality and expressiveness. There was one exercise in particular, where two young men were play fighting and one had to do a forward roll over the other, causing him to bash his head on the floor a couple of times before perfecting the move. Sadly, this wasn’t in the current incarnation, I just hope it is not due to some lasting injury inflicted on the poor chap.
Although familiar with the music, as is everyone whether you realise it or not, I didn’t know much/anything about the dancing part and was surprised to learn that it was episodic rather than being one continuous narrative. Now I know, it explains how so many disparate tunes can be incorporated into one work with no seeming reference to each other.
The story is very simple, in that it is Christmas Eve and the Edwards family are getting the stately pile ready for their bash. The young brother and sister, Frederick and Clara, are anticipating kick off with the boy teasing his sibling for imagining how wonderful it will be. The arrival of the beautiful elder sister, Louise, puts paid to all that.
The arrival of Uncle Drosselmayer, interrupts the singing and dancing, which is in full swing, as he has brought with him a huge wooden box collected on his travels, containing two sets of life-size dancing dolls, he also has a small wooden soldier doll for the young ones.
Clara is more than impressed with the soldier, which makes Frederick jealous and, in trying to wrest it from her, he breaks it. Fortunately Uncle Drosselmeyer manages to do a quick repair job and it is placed under the tree for safe keeping.
Everyone goes to bed, except for Uncle, who proceeds to weave his magic…..
This is where the story ends, but the ballet begins in earnest. It is no spoiler to say that what follows is Clara’s dream, because it is pretty obvious from the outset.
Unable to sleep, Clara tiptoes downstairs where all is dark, but she is soon surrounded by large mice. The room has morphed into a huge space and the china cabinet become a castle, wherein lives a human-size version of the wooden soldier, which has come to life.
The Mouse King, appears and declares war on the Nutcracker, who mobilises his army from the castle and the battle begins. Mouse King is just about to deliver the Coup de Grâce when Clara distracts him, allowing the Nutcracker to triumph.
Uncle Drosselmeyer appears and again works his magic by transforming Nutcracker into a handsome young man, who takes Clara’s hand and whisks her to a wintery fairyland where they skate on the frozen lake, surrounded by dancing snow maidens. Once more, Uncle D butts in, this time with a magic sleigh, and transports them towards the stars.
Fortunately, that is where the interval occurs, as I was now in the mood for an ice cream – and a glass of vin rouge, well, it is Christmas.
We seem only to have missed the boring journey through the void of space during the break, and so handily pick up the action again when the sleigh arrives in a beautiful celestial garden, where Clara is introduced to the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier, who are dead ringers for her sister Louise and her boyfriend, James.
There then follows four set pieces depicting the elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Quintessence – Water having already been portrayed – all of which have their own music and dances, whilst the Nutcracker Prince and Clara watch from the Royal Box. The presentation climaxes with the finest of the dances being performed by The Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier.
The dancing over, Clara finds herself at home in the arms of her father. She scours the room for traces of evidence to support her story but none can be found. As she goes back to bed we see Uncle Drosselmeyer and the Nutcracker Prince looking lovingly at her. Ahhhh. Soppy, but absolutely brilliant, and just the uplifting thing we need at this precarious moment in time.
The ballet is by David Nixon CBE, who was Director, Choreographer, Costume Designer and Scenario, but apart from that did nowt. The music was by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Orchestrated by John Longstaff and played live under the baton of Guest Conductor, Yi Wei, with Leader Winona Fifield.
As well as the dancing and playing being top notch, the set was extremely impressive, with a few clever touches in transforming the main room of the house into a battleground, complete with castle, then a forest in winter and an exotic celestial garden. In this last manifestation the large box which had contained the two life-size dancing dolls at the beginning, morphed into a part of the structure supporting Clara and Prince Nutcracker’s seats.
The Set Designer was Charles Cusick Smith with Lighting Design by Mark Jonathan. Christopher Dudgeon was Costume Design Assistant.
A couple of specific points regarding the dancing which struck me. First, the humour, especially when the life-size dolls were liberated from their box and began to animate in a kind of robotic break dance, and second, the leaps performed by Jonathan Hanks. I have seen live ballet before, as well as excerpts on television, when the male dancer picks up speed and leaps several feet into the air, Mr Hanks, however, didn’t appear to break any altitude records, but seemed to be airborne for far longer than I would consider to be humanly possible. Phenomenal.
I can’t put into words – not a great admission from a writer – how amazed and impressed I was by every aspect of this work. I freely admit to being an opera novice so my yardstick probably only measures about six inches, but I fail to see how there could have been any improvement on what I saw, or how it made me feel. The three-year period between seeing a small part of the rehearsal and the finished product was well worth the wait.
As you have probably gathered, I really enjoyed this ballet and have absolutely no qualms in recommending it to those of you who have never been to one before, I am sure that you will not be disappointed.
The Nutcracker is at Leeds Grand Theatre until 4th January, 2026. For more details, to see a trailer, which will remind you of the music involved, and to book, please go to https://northernballet.com/the-nutcracker
To see what is coming to Leeds Grand Theatre it is https://leedsheritagetheatres.com/whats-on/ which will also show you current and future attractions at Leeds City Varieties Music Hall and Hyde Park Picture House.
Photographs by Northern Ballet
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