Tchaikovsky’s 1892 ballet The Nutcracker has been part of Christmas in Britain since 1934, when Alicia Markova starred in a production staged by Nicholas Sergeyev. “She was brittle and sparkling, like the frosted icing on a Christmas cake,” said the critic PW Manchester, ecstatically. In 1950, Markova performed in a shortened version for London Festival Ballet, the company that went on to become English National Ballet.
Roll forward to today, as English National Ballet unveils its 11th new version of Nutcracker. Its last (2010) was dour and incomprehensible; this rethinking by artistic director Aaron S Watkin and the irrepressible choreographer Arielle Smith has the virtue of joy and the trace of coherence.
