At this time of year ballet dancers from Sydney to San Francisco are fastening their tutus, breaking in pointe shoes and memorising byzantine cast lists that have them in roles from candy canes and flowers to harlequin dolls and soldiers. It’s Nutcracker season, and along with the magically lit trees and dancing snowflakes, this festive classic offers a chance for dancers to interpret enduring roles.
The Nutcracker was premiered in 1892, in Moscow, by the Bolshoi Ballet, as the third and final of Tchaikovsky’s beloved ballet scores, after Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake. Since then it has become a global phenomenon: every major ballet company has a Nutcracker in its repertoire.
When the State Ballet of Georgia brings its version to Dublin in November, audiences will see a connection to the original creation of the choreographers Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, shaped here by the company’s artistic director, Nina Ananiashvili, a renowned former Bolshoi ballerina. “Nutcracker doesn’t need any explanation, because everybody knows first this genius music. It is really beautiful,” she says.
Many companies put their own stamp on this ballet, which can range from elaborate Victorian costumes in the first act to a hot-air-balloon carriage in the second, but no matter how the costumes and scenery might
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