Experience The Nutcracker at Royal Opera House

The Nutcracker at the Royal Opera House

My mother always detested spending December 31st preparing salads, so she came up with a tradition of celebrating the day with a cultural event.

We've attended all sorts of performances! From the circus and "Little Brother and Carlson" to "The Snow Queen," puppet theater, and movies like "Little Stuart" and "Harry Potter." For the last ten years, we've been going to see The Nutcracker at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theatre. In 2022, we enjoyed the new choreography by Yuri Posokhov, and that was it.

So, I had no doubt that we'd be seeing a performance on December 31st in London, especially since there are three productions of this ballet here. By the way, Raevsky recently released a wonderful edition about The Nutcracker, which I highly recommend!

The modern version of The Nutcracker at the Royal Opera House was staged by Peter Wright in 1984. Interestingly, he is still alive and will celebrate his 100th birthday next year!

We thoroughly enjoyed the ballet, which featured many extraordinary directorial choices and stunning decorations. I won’t spoil it for you, as it’s something you truly need to see for yourself.

What amazed me the most was discovering that the adagio can be danced not only by Masha and the Nutcracker but also by the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Prince. Just to clarify, the Prince is not the Nutcracker; he’s a separate character, the ruler of the magical land of sweets, Confiturenburg!

If you're planning a visit to the Royal Opera House, I recommend arriving well in advance—at least an hour ahead. It’s incredibly beautiful there, with a fantastic shop and buffet, so there’s plenty to enjoy!

Featured in the photos are the Sugar Plum Fairy's costume from the 1958 television version of the ballet and masks from the 2022 opera "Alcina."