The Sunday Times - UK (2021-11-28)

Carmen

A rare winter ballet for adults —

Natalia Osipova stars as Bizet’s

heroine.

Dec 17-18, Edinburgh International

Conference Centre

The Little Prince

Luca Silvestrini’s Protein Dance

company adapts the beloved

children’s tale.

Dec 18-24, The Place, London WC1

The Snowman

Raymond Briggs’s classic story

goes walking in the air once more.

Until Jan 2, Peacock Theatre,

London WC2

The Little Match Girl

A former stage success, Arthur

Pita’s take on the Hans Christian

Andersen fairytale streams this

winter.

From Nov 30, Digital Stage at

sadlerswells.com

NUTLESS CRACKERS

tures in Wonderland and The Tales of

Beatrix Potter, while Scottish Ballet’s

ambitious creations include Hampson’s

Hansel and Gretel and The Snow Queen.

Mary Ball, a long-time supporter of

Scottish Ballet, used The Snow Queen as

an introduction to ballet for her two

grandsons in 2019, and says both were

wowed. “Our audiences like the cycle of

different ballets,” Hampson says, “but

when we compare the sales fig-

ures, Nutcracker is always that bit

ahead.” In Birmingham, Miller

says bluntly: “Our Cinderella

was successful — but it doesn’t

touch the sides of Nutcracker.”

Despite public subsidy that finan-

cial boost is vital. “The Nutcracker is

absolutely integral to our business

model,” Miller says. “It makes a net

contribution to our core overhead

costs of £750,000 every year. That

enables us to invest in new pro-

grammes, keep the company going,

perform to diverse audiences: we

definitely wouldn’t be able to do

that without Nutcracker.”

However, tradition is always in

flux. American companies were

the first to realise that productions

designed to appeal to all were creat-

ing discomfort; especially the Chi-

nese dance, often performed by

white dancers in crude make-up.

Miller visited the Final Bow for Yel-

lowface campaigners in New York, and

BRB’s costume and choreography

changed as a result. Now Scottish

Ballet follows suit. “Peter Darrell

created this production 50 years

ago,” Hampson says. “It does need to

be amended. We’re working with a Chi-

nese traditional dance artist and have

identified a style of dance that we feel

is best referenced from the original

choreography, and they’re using the

fans correctly. It’s all the richer for it.

We’re making sure the production

remains timeless. This evolution is

really important so we can carry it for-

ward to future generations.”

London’s Nutcracker mania will be

tested at the end of December, when

BRB’s arena version returns to the Royal

Albert Hall. That same week rival

Nutcrackers appear at the Royal Opera

House, London Coliseum and Sad-

ler’s Wells — that’s 23 performances

in just four days. Can the capital sus-

tain four Nutcrackers?

“When the Albert Hall first came to

us with the idea, we had the same

question,” Miller says, “but we sell

really well — it’s become a tradition.”

If The Nutcracker is now a secular

tradition, this year its sugary comforts

may be more welcome than ever. “It

gives me a feeling of joy and peace,”

Miller says. Who wouldn’t want that

this winter? c

RICKY GUEST

JANE HOBSON

TRISTRAM KENTON

TMAX PRODUCTIONS

28 November 2021 9