Last week, Ukraine’s culture minister, Oleksandr Tkachenko, urged western classical companies to avoid Tchaikovsky’s music, “pausing performances of his works until Russia ceases its bloody invasion”. For ballet companies, the plea falls on sympathetic but unresponsive ears: Tchaikovsky’s ballets are rare bankers in uncertain times, and London hosts no less than three major productions of The Nutcracker this month.
On some nights, well over 6,000 seats will tempt people craving its fruit and nut pleasures. Wayne Eagling’s 2010 production for English National Ballet has its young heroine quivering with intimations of adulthood. Eagling introduces a very young Clara (a poised Millicent Honour on opening night) who morphs into an adult ballerina (Julia Conway) as midnight strikes, dreaming herself into adventure and romance.
