The Nutcracker

The Nutcracker A rich experience for audiences of any age, the Australian Ballet's Nutcracker is as good as promised. The Australian Ballet's Nutcracker is as good as promised. The detail in the choreography and presentation makes it a rich experience for audiences of any age. Those with sophisticated dance knowledge will admire the technique; all of us can lose ourselves in the magic. Peter Wright's production - originally created for the Birmingham Royal Ballet in 1990 - builds on the traditions of the ballet choreographed by Lev Ivanov a century before, using choreography by Ivanov, Vincent Redmon and himself. The result is an amalgam of past and present. It opens with a storybook cast of a family with servants and a lifestyle structured by formality, yet the narrative develops to reflect the speed and colour expected of entertainment today. John F. Macfarlane has designed superb costumes and sets that appear and disappear in smooth transformation scenes, combining historic benchmarks with vivid contemporary touches that animate the familiar scenario. Nicolette Fraillon conducts the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra through Tchaikovsky's tuneful music at a brisk pace.