No Christmas without: The Nutcracker is back – ready to make the advent season magical for young and old!
Magical Pre-Christmas Dream
It is winter in Christiania in 1905. Clara is caught between being a child and an adult, feeling out of place in the grand Christmas party. The mysterious toymaker Drosselmeyer gives her a wooden nutcracker doll – and when Clara falls asleep, the doll transforms into a real prince!
But it's not just the doll that transforms: The guests turn into rats and mice, and all the Christmas gifts come to life and invite everyone to dance – led by Drosselmeyer. In a sprawling, slightly eerie universe, the prince and Clara must battle the animals, with the rat king at the forefront.
The Christmas Ballet of All Ballettes
Every Christmas, The Nutcracker is performed by ballet companies around the world. The story is based on E.T.A. Hoffmann's tale "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King." The version danced by the National Ballet is choreographed by Kaloyan Boyadjiev and has made its way to the ballet companies in Bordeaux and Leipzig.
In our production, the story is set in Norway’s capital over a hundred years ago, where Clara's diplomat family receives guests from many countries.
The dancers of the National Ballet share the stage with students from the National Ballet School, all interpreting a multitude of roles – from the prince, Little and Big Clara, to rats and waffles with sour cream.
And when the curtain rises to Tchaikovsky's melodies played by the Opera Orchestra, some in the audience are seeing ballet for the very first time...
