Review: English National Ballet’s Nutcracker – wondrous and truly transporting
Georgina Butler enjoys a sprinkling of Nutcracker magic with English National Ballet – engaging and entertaining… a luscious visual feast.
| Title | Nutcracker |
| Company | English National Ballet |
| Venue | London Coliseum, London |
| Date | 11 December 2025 |
| Reviewer | Georgina Butler |
English National Ballet treats festive-spirit seekers to sugar, spice and all things ice with Nutcracker – a flavourful production that leaves a satisfying ‘don’t worry, be nutty’ aftertaste.
Since being established as a Christmas classic in Russia during the early 1890s, The Nutcracker has journeyed around the globe and sparkled across the decades. The fanciful, coming-of-age tale and magical, moreish music enchants theatregoers and ensures the ballet endures as a must-see Yuletide staple. It is the quintessential introduction to ballet for newcomers; a voyage of discovery to inspire inquisitive children and perk up world-weary adults. So, it is a commercial necessity for companies to perform it and perform it well.
This year marks the first anniversary of Aaron S Watkin and Arielle Smith’s Nutcracker, back at the sublime London Coliseum after a sold-out premiere season last winter. Never averse to cracking on, English National Ballet (ENB) has staged a Nutcracker every year since the company was established, as London Festival Ballet, in 1950. The current refreshed version blends timeless tradition with fresh theatrical innovation. Conceived and co-choreographed by ENB artistic director Watkin and award-winning dancemaker Smith, with exquisite designs by Dick Bird, it is a luscious visual feast that combines classical and contemporary vocabulary. The result is an engaging and entertaining spectacle. Unsurprisingly, audiences are going nuts for it, and the pre-Christmas performances are more or less sold out.
The story, in a nutshell, unfolds on Christmas Eve and follows Clara, a young girl who receives a wooden nutcracker doll as a present. As evening becomes night, Clara falls asleep only to have her sense of wonder awakened when she dreams that her nutcracker has come to life.
Watkin and Smith’s scenario is set in Edwardian London. Charmingly, confectionery is central to the plot from the very beginning. The prologue reveals that Drosselmeyer (charismatic and animated Junor Souza on opening night) is a quirky toymaker and sweetshop owner. Tinkering with playthings in his secret attic workshop, he turns a doll that resembles a young prince into a nutcracker. Moments later, behind the counter in his Emporium of Sweets and Delights, he doles out sugar plums from mysteriously glowing jars. (Yes, think Dr Coppélius meets Willy Wonka!) Meanwhile, child Clara (wide-eyed, endearingly natural Delilah Wiggins) and her mother, Mrs Stahlbaum (elegant Sangeun Lee) are shopping for sweets for their Christmas Eve party. They visit the emporium and stroll among stalls in a festive street, buying delicacies from around the world. This neatly links Clara’s reality to the candy fairydom to come.
The gas-lit, cobbled street bustles in the style of Mary Poppins and Oliver Twist. Fascinated Clara encounters cheery chimney sweeps, campaigning suffragettes and scurrying child pickpockets. These pickpockets, who are probably as poor as church mice, are in cahoots with mildly ratty (supposedly sinister) cheesemonger Uromys Grimsewer (unrecognisable James Streeter). Real-life characters reappear in new guises in Clara’s dream. Keep it quiet, but you cheddar believe that Grimsewer and his gang metamorphose to play rat and mouse games during the battle scene.
The Stahlbaum’s seasonal shindig bustles too. A wayward maid and butler cavort through the cosily decorated living room, teasing merrymakers by holding teetering trays of goodies just out of reach. Drosselmeyer performs tricks and puppetry. Excited children boisterously enjoy themselves. Clara’s gracious parents dance with their guests – including Clara’s eccentric aunt, Isolde (Anna Nevzorova) – whose magnificent party outfits tastefully hint at their dreamworld counterparts. Clara is thrilled to be given the nutcracker doll and relishes how much jaw-dropping fun it is to watch and mimic him. Dazzling projections assure us that magic is in the air… and the dream begins.
Matured into a fully grown adolescent, Clara (wonderful Ivana Bueno) courageously helps the Nutcracker (Rhys Antoni Yeomans) and his army defeat the Rat King and mice in battle. Although it is a fairly tame fight, it is fabulously fun – furry vermin, marching soldiers, gingerbread cookies and Christmas tree ornaments get in on the action. The fierce factor is fulfilled when Clara, encouraged by the suffragettes, fatally stabs the rodents’ ruler. Clara’s bravery is rewarded with a special moment under a silvery sky with the now-released Nutcracker Prince (refined and sincere Paulo Rodrigues, making his debut in this role). The couple then find themselves in an Ice Realm before flying through candyfloss clouds to the Land of Sweets and Delights.
The Ice Realm, portrayed with a spiky blizzard of twirling Snowflakes (in long tutus) and shimmering Icicles (in short tutus), is presided over by the Ice Queen, Isolde. Here, Clara’s aunt is an aloof, authoritative presence who demands attention. This personifies the meaning of her name; a moniker from medieval legends, ‘Isolde’ means ‘ice battle’ or ‘one who is gazed upon’. All sharp angles and frosty looks, she executes breathtakingly controlled multiple turns with cool, calm ease before conjuring a glistening ice sleigh. This crystal-clear carriage is pulled by a stunning seahorse ice sculpture. (Makes sense: reindeer or ponies are too conventional, and unicorns are so 2010s?) It’s picturesque and perfectly peculiar.
The Land of Sweets and Delights is a riot of colour and movement. Assorted twinkletoed treats emerge from tins, tents, tubs… Clara whirls with them, sampling distinctive dance flavours that represent the sweets served at the Christmas Eve party. The zip and zest are a recipe for dessert delirium, so now we can indulge too. Turrón (Spanish nougat) is full of flamenco flair. Sahlab (Egyptian hot orchid root milk with cinnamon) oozes with warming frothiness, courtesy of trailing sleeves and sultry lifts. Tanghulu (Chinese candied hawthorn berries) replicates the chimney sweeps, now flaunting fruit skewers instead of brooms. Makivnyk (Ukrainian poppyseed rolls) provides acrobatic antics. Marzipan-Zwiebelflöten (German marzipan flutes) prettily rotate while trussed up in cupcake-case ruffles. Adorable little Liquorice Allsorts joyfully burst out of their box, marshalled (marshmallowed?!) by a jolly showman (Thiago Silva, in an athletically hyperactive ‘Ballet Bassett’ reinterpretation of the Mother Ginger role).
A waltz of Buttercream Roses precedes the reverie’s blissful finale to savour: the delicate purity of the regal Sugar Plum Fairy. The star partnership between lead principals Sangeun Lee and Gareth Haw (as Sugar Plum Fairy/Mrs Stahlbaum and Sugar Plum Cavalier/Mr Stahlbaum) was the cherry on top on press night. But there will be an array of majestic couples to appreciate throughout the run.
This Nutcracker is imaginatively sweetened with delightful characterisation and witty details. The story has a scrumptious, albeit still a trifle nutty, logic. The sets, costumes, lighting and illusions are wondrous and truly transporting. And, of course, Tchaikovsky’s score is performed live by English National Ballet Philharmonic, niftily conducted by music director Maria Seletskaja. There is so much to take in and take pleasure in.
Choreographically, the first act is busy, with an exuberant dance-theatre buzz. This works well for establishing scenes and giving theatregoers’ hungry eyes plenty to gorge on, but it can be difficult to know where to look. The emergence of the Ice Realm is incredibly atmospheric thanks to a lovely, expansive, neoclassical pas de deux between Clara and her Nutcracker Prince, but dry ice obscures our view of their legs and feet. Tightly arranged, and staged in appropriately pointed patterns, the steps performed by the Snowflakes and Icicles have a technique class feel to them – less swirling, more schooled. This not-too-dancey feeling returns in the second act when the Buttercream Roses bloom – their waltzing is restricted to the sugar-spun sidelines.
Chewy niggles aside, the production goes down a treat. Craving sugar, ballet, theatre or festive spirit? Consider those cravings satisfied – anything is possible with a sprinkling of Nutcracker magic.
Nutcracker continues at the London Coliseum until Sunday 11 January 2026.
Georgina Butler is an editor, a dance writer and a ballet teacher.
Georgina is a first class honours graduate and registered teacher of the Royal Academy of Dance (BA (Hons), RAD RTS). Following further training at the Royal Ballet School, she also holds the ‘Inspire’ professional development certificate for classical ballet teachers.
Outside of dance, Georgina is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science (BSc (Hons) LSE), a qualified journalist (National Council for the Training of Journalists) and a certified editor (Publishing Training Centre).
Georgina is a fellow of Advance HE (FHEA). This is a professional status awarded in recognition of her expertise in teaching and learning and her commitment to enhancing the student experience.
I was very disappointed. Whoever came up with the idea to have back-to-back pas de deux’s?