"The Nutcracker" is surely as much part of the Christmas flavor as Brussel sprouts, but far more than enjoyable.

Information technology'due south a dear tradition, but also vital to the financial wellbeing of ballet companies all over the world. But with this twelvemonth'due south pandemic closures, ballet faces a massive threat, including "Nutcracker" from The Land Academic Bolshoi Theatre of Russian federation presented by Pathe Live showing in cinemas all over the country every bit a special family Christmas care for starting from xx Dec 2020.

I watched many versions while making my pic "Nutcracker Story", which pays homage to ane of the globe's favourite fairy tales; information technology examines the famous story about growing up and asks what it is about Tchaikovsky's ballet that has made it such an essential part of every child's Christmas all over the globe?

Nutcracker wasn't always a light and fluffy sugariness filled ballet for children. It started equally one of Due east. T. A Hoffman's night moralistic fairy tales, riven with sexual undercurrents, long before Tchaikovsky created the music for the famous ballet.

Tchaikovsky institute it difficult to write Nutcracker, struggling with his own demons – potable, his sexuality, and his untimely and mysterious death shortly after the premiere in St Petersburg in 1892. The Russian critics were cruel, and Nutcracker and then disappeared, unperformed for decades, until the Americans adopted it as the archetypal children'southward Christmas entertainment it is today.

"Nutcracker Story" – a Margy Kinmonth film, is narrated past Simon Russel Beale and performed by the artistes of the Regal Ballet Covent Garden, Laura Morera and Yohei Sasaki and the Mariinsky (Kirov) Ballet. Information technology returns to the original fairytale by E.T.A. Hoffman and explores the magical childhood globe of dancing snowflakes, giant Christmas trees and sinister rats. Filmed in St Petersburg, Budapest and London – it features Nathan Lane, Ken Russell, Matthew Bourne, Gerald Scarf, Andrei Konchalovsky, Marina Warner and a host of international dancers. Tchaikovsky's famous score is conducted by the celebrated musical director of the Mariinsky (Kirov) Theatre – Valery Gergiev using the faster and more dynamic symphonic version.

The State Academic Bolshoi Theatre of Russia "Nutcracker" presented past Pathe Live, offers a welcome escape into the toy box.

"The Nutcracker" photo by Damir Yusupov

Choreography and libretto are by Yuri Grigorovich (b 1927) the Soviet and Russian dancer and choreographer who has dominated Russian ballet since the Soviet era. He was born into a family continued with the Imperial Russian Ballet, and for decades has been the choreographer in-chief of the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre, helping to establish Russian classical ballet all over the world.

In his 1966 Nutcracker, Grigorovich did not only narrate a fairy tale. He belonged to a generation of artists who were rethinking the role that fine art should play in life. He transformed The Nutcracker, which was considered a children's ballet, into a philosophical parable. His dancers who became known as "the Grigorovich generation" took classical ballet to a new level of virtuosity, in which technical accomplishments of Bolshoi's reknown acrobatic leaps and breathtaking lifts, became artistic revelations.

Grigorovich understands the music so well, he has the logic of the characters, he is able to embody on stage the full movement of music through the choreography.

Did Tchaikovsky ever imagine when he composed the score that he would inspire then many versions, in its 128 years since the starting time functioning at the Mariinsky Theatre St Petersburg in 1892?

"The Nutcracker" photograph by Damir Yusupov

In the 20th century many choreographers were inspired by Nutcracker – from the keen classic George Balanchine to the super-avant-gardist, Marker Morris – unable to resist the temptation of plunging into the languorous strains of Tchaikovsky's music. For some it represented a sweetness memory of childhood, for others – attempts to locate a fairy tale in the prosaic hurly-burly of modern life, for yet others – heed-extraordinary star turns. Merely in that location were few who managed to create a choreography that was equivalent to Tchaikovsky's agitated and infinitely tragic music.

This Bolshoi product is like watching a Christmas bill of fare come to life – in the snowflake scene the corps de ballet rotate like spinning tops, skating and skipping on a frozen lake. As the snowfall falls they get a blizzard of snowballs. The choral voices are always magical, now fifty-fifty more than and then today, when and so much singing is silenced by the pandemic.

In this Bolshoi version y'all tin can go behind the drape in the interval and lookout man the dancers practising on the stage. The live show generates all the virtual excitement of existence at the ballet in Russian federation, with the loud auspicious throughout, you are actually in that location inside the auditorium of the magnificent Moscow Bolshoi theatre.

The middle human action is a long series of tableaux to enjoy. The land of sweets re enacts the kingdom of dreams, where the toys actually come to life. Current of air the dancers up and they'll perform. Information technology's like being inside a musical box.

"The Nutcracker" photo by Damir Yusupov

The dancers are in the tree, which consists of painted brushstrokes of giant pine leaves and baubles designed past Simon Virsaladze. The Spanish Dolls show off their brash bravado. The Indian Dolls move with its slow precision. The Chinese Dolls in their yellow and duck egg green, jump in a counterpoint rhythm. Pinkish firecracker Russian Dolls, outdo each others' jumps while the audition claps in time.

The Fruit and Nutcase tune e'er reminds me of a certain type of chocolate, here it is performed past a pair of shepherds en pointe, dressed in white, pulling a lamb on wheels, with a big ribbon. Then all the toys assemble and link arms in a carefree round dance. Meanwhile my favourite tune – Tchaikovsky'due south tune Punchinello – proves that the answers are e'er from his own babyhood.

Nutcracker is all about childhood imagination, and the opportunity to allow children themselves to trip the light fantastic toe expressively. Recall the first time you were on phase in the Nutcracker and how information technology felt? Whether a mouse or toy soldier, I loved filming the children practise their own versions, amateur and professional person alike, it'due south sheer delight watching children perform. And an experience for them which they'll never forget.

The finale pas de deux is classical ballet at its purest. A duet between stars Semyon Chudin and Margarita Shrayner. More than familiar themes, the Sugar Plum Fairy variation, rendered by the unique and inventive audio of the celestia, played by Olgar Sokolova. The steps are frail and difficult, like dancing on Christmas cake icing. Refuse the lights and watch, every bit pure magic floods into the frame.

In a tough year for all artistes, musicians and dancers, this testify has an extra poignancy. An opportunity to wallow in nostalgia, escape into the toybox and forget the real world for a few magical hours. In this pandemic year, where even snowflakes are socially distanced, this Bolshoi performance shows the blizzard raging on, and so forget the nightmare of Covid and enjoy.

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  • Website: http://www.bolshoiballetcinema.co.uk