Bah humbug. It’s Nutcracker season. For some people, the onset of Christmas is marked by the John Lewis advertisement or the straggly tree that goes up on the high street. For balletgoers, it’s the sudden rash of sugar-coated productions that appear on stage.
The Nutcracker was, famously, a flop when it first appeared in 1892, vanishing quickly from the repertory. “I like the plot very little,” said Tchaikovsky, of the traditional story, which breaks the ballet into two difficult halves – a children’s party in the first act and a trip to the magical kingdom of sweets in the second.
