Principal Evan Loudon as The Nutcracker Prince and Soloist Grace Horler as The Snow Queen in Peter Darrell’s The Nutcracker. Credit Andy Ross
Following the Scottish Government announcement that there will be no further extension to current event restrictions due to Covid-19, Scottish Ballet has announced that it will complete its tour of The Nutcracker to Inverness (Eden Court, 26-29 January), after the Glasgow and Aberdeen runs were cancelled.
The tour will then move on to Newcastle (Theatre Royal, 2-5 February) and Belfast (Grand Opera House, 9-12 February). The company’s dancers have been rehearsing The Nutcracker and future productions and maintaining fitness levels at their headquarters in Glasgow during the restrictions.
The beautiful production has choreography by Peter Darrell, with sets and costumes by Lez Brotherston, and lighting by George Thomson.
Lez Brotherston’s sets – introduced when the production was re-mounted back in 2014 – are tastefully scrumptious, the production’s relative intimacy undeniably has its own charm, and the house orchestra makes Tchaikovsky’s wonderful score soar… the leads sparkle as they should, and the whole enterprise has just the right sense of collective fun and purpose. – Mark Monahan, The Telegraph 2021
01 – First Artist Madeline Squire as Drosselmeyer in Peter Darrell’s The Nutcracker. Credit Andy Ross02 – Chloe Macduff as Clara in Peter Darrell’s The Nutcracker. Credit Andy Ross03 – Chloe Macduff as Clara (Centre) with fellow child performers in Peter Darrell’s The Nutcracker. Credit Andy Ross05 – Chloe Macduff as Clara in Peter Darrell’s The Nutcracker. Credit Andy Ross06 – (Centre) Chloe Macduff as Clara in Peter Darrell’s The Nutcracker. Credit Andy Ross08 – (Centre) Soloist Grace Horler as The Snow Queen in Peter Darrell’s The Nutcracker. Credit Andy Ross09 – Principals Marge Hendrick as Sugarplum Fairy and Evan Loudon as Nutcracker Prince in Peter Darrell’s The Nutcracker. Credit Andy Ross10 – Principal Marge Hendrick as The Sugar Plum Fairy in Peter Darrell’s The Nutcracker. Credit Andy Ross11 – (Centre) Principal Marge Hendrick as The Sugar Plum Fairy in Peter Darrell’s The Nutcracker. Credit Andy Ross12 – (Centre) Principal Evan Loudon as The Nutcracker Prince in Peter Darrell’s The Nutcracker. Credit Andy Ross13 – (Centre) Chloe Macduff as Clara in Peter Darrell’s The Nutcracker. Credit Andy Ross14 – Soloist Roseanna Leney in Arabian Dance. Credit Andy Ross15 – Soloist Roseanna Leney in Arabian Dance. Credit Andy Ross16 – (L-R) Artist Alice Kawalek and First Artist Kayla-Maree Tarantolo in Chinese Tea Dance. Credit Andy Ross17 – (L-R) Artist Alice Kawalek and First Artist Kayla-Maree Tarantolo in Chinese Tea Dance. Credit Andy Ross18 – Principals Evan Loudon as Nutcracker Prince and Marge Hendrick as Sugar Plum Fairy in Peter Darrell’s The Nutcracker. Credit Andy Ross19 – Principals Marge Hendrick as Sugar Plum Fairy and Evan Loudon as Nutcracker Prince in Peter Darrell’s The Nutcracker. Credit Andy Ross20 – Principal Marge Hendrick as The Sugar Plum Fairy in Peter Darrell’s The Nutcracker. Credit Andy Ross
Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Italian ballerina Carla Fracci.
Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.
He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.
