Royal Albert Hall, London.
29 December 2025.
It would be hard not to be in awe of the magnificent grandeur that is the Royal Albert Hall, including its unique setting of theatre in the round; it is exciting to catch a glimpse of the auditorium and staging area whilst walking round the curved corridor to the correct entrance door. Though I have to admit to being a little disappointed that it was not a ballet ‘in the round’ this evening, with half of the circular performance area given over to seating, the staging placed underneath the organ, with a raised platform for the orchestra overhead, in front of the organ. This was visually very pleasing, but the conductor had to work hard, often looking over his shoulder at the dancers below him on stage whilst still conducting his orchestra! The action was very much presented out to the front, and I did wonder how audiences seated around the sides were faring.
However, Birmingham Royal Ballet’s version of The Nutcracker by David Bintley, after Sir Peter Wright, is beautiful. Act 1 was packed with memorable highlights, including the busy Christmas Eve scene in Clara’s house, with charming character performances by young ballet students of Elmhurst Ballet School and The Royal Ballet School who were given the wonderful opportunity to play children at the Christmas Eve party. They played chasing games, opened huge gift boxes with dolls inside (who transformed into life-size characters in Act II) and teased Clara, breaking her Nutcracker doll! The growing of the Christmas Tree at midnight was effectively portrayed via projected lighting effects of branches travelling up the sides of the stage and the lowering of giant baubles from the ceiling. And of course, the magical culmination of Act 1; the Snowflake Waltz. Female dancers wore flouncy tulle dresses which were fabulous in their depiction of snowflakes. Gorgeous swirling choreography here as dancers swept across the deceptively large stage; snow falling from above and the emotive music built to a crescendo as Clara was carried off stage at the end.
Clara from the outset, performed that night by Katherine Ochoa, was animated and generous in her presentation, catching the eye wherever she was on stage.
Particularly interesting for Clara’s character in this version, was that she was alone most of the time, especially in Act II, and rather than sitting to watch the divertissements, she was involved and interacting with them all. This was certainly a refreshingly positive addition, though the rapid introduction of all the character dancers at the beginning of Act II was a little overwhelming in that it was hard to take them all in, and underwhelming in that there were no surprises left when each group stepped on to the stage to perform, as we had already seen them. The scenery consisting of a central entranceway onto the stage, particularly following the luxurious detail of Act I seemed a little bland here.
The calm, alluring Arabian music is always a favourite and beautifully sensual choreography to it was performed by three male dancers and one female who fluidly transferred between them with some very attractive lines. I also loved the assuredness of the Sugar Plum Fairy, danced tonight by Yaoqian Shang and her Prince Riku Ito. They were such a well-matched partnership and it felt comfortable to relax and watch them dance together. There’s no doubt this was a clever and intriguing reimagining of the Nutcracker; however, the opportunity to connect with the Sugar Plum Fairy and Prince as an audience was missed, due to not having them on stage during Act II proceedings. I also felt that the absence of the Nutcracker Prince was very much noticeable and missed. The storyline steered away from the Land of Sweets and instead the magical kingdom sprung from Drosselmeyer’s imagination with his creations coming to life, overseen by him throughout.
The Waltz of the Flowers was a choreographic delight with a wonderfully strong finish, followed by Drosselmeyer sprinkling magic dust over Clara who then slept as she was carried back to lay beneath the Christmas Tree with her Nutcracker doll for a traditional end to a very entertaining evening.
By Louise Ryrie of Dance Informa.
