The Nutcracker review, Royal Ballet – Classic Christmas confection danced beautifully and with heart

Viola Pantuso’s Clara travels from her family home in 19th-century Nuremberg to the Land of Sweets in this festive treat

On pointe: William Bracewell as Prince and Fumi Kaneko as Sugar Plum Fairy in ‘The Nutcracker’ (©2025 RBO. Photographed by Andrej Uspenski)

The Royal Ballet’s Nutcracker is a sparkling and much-loved Christmas treat. Since Peter Wright’s production opened in 1984, generations of dancers have grown up with it: as child performers in the party scene and the mouse battle, moving on to be snowflakes, national dancers, waltzing roses, princes and sugar plum fairies. On the first night of this revival, Wright celebrated his 99th birthday on stage, with a special garland hanging overhead, a cake just like the one that appears in the ballet, and a flood of goodwill throughout the theatre.

The show itself comes up spick and span. Julia Trevelyan Oman’s designs, lovingly researched and beautifully drawn, take the heroine Clara from her family home in 19th-century Nuremberg through a snowy forest to the Land of Sweets. There’s plenty of bustle and characterisation in the family party. The transformation scene is majestic: the Christmas tree simply grows, rising higher and higher to the sweep of Tchaikovsky’s score. Conductor Koen Kessels brings out the power and the fizz of this music.

Viola Pantuso is a lively, engaged Clara, caught up in her magical journey. She and Leo Dixon, as the Nutcracker, bring a flowing musicality to their big duet. Arriving in the Sugar Plum Fairy’s kingdom, the Nutcracker explains the story so far; Dixon is irresistible in this tiny, vivid mime scene. Invited to join the divertissement dances of the second act, Pantuso and Dixon jump in with verve, particularly in the bounding Russian dance.

Thomas Whitehead brings a touch of melancholy to the magician Drosselmeyer. He has plenty of flourish as he works his enchantments, directing the action, but brings to it a touch of seriousness too.

Fumi Kaneko dances the Sugar Plum Fairy with long-limbed poise. She has a crystalline elegance in the famous solo, with its hushed strings and tinkling celesta. She’s partnered by the princely William Bracewell, who dances with lyrical line. There’s a lovely openness to his dancing, with generous ease in the soaring jumps.

Sae Maeda is a speedy Rose Fairy, with airy dancing from the leading flowers. As the Harlequin dolls, Téo Dubreuil and Mica Bradbury move with crisp, clockwork precision. (I love the moment when he’s picked up and carried away by an assistant, suddenly stiff as a mannequin.) Taisuke Nakao and Chisato Katsura, meanwhile, dance with bold attack as the soldier couple. Throughout, the company move with warmth as well as polish.

There's a Christmassy glow to the whole show, a cherished tradition unwrapped again for the holidays.

‘The Nutcracker’ is on at the Royal Opera House until 5 January; tickets here