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Act I
The toymaker Dosselmeyer is in his toyshop making preparations for a Christmas party. As the children arrive, each is given a costume to join in the celebrations. Little Marie arrives last, after Drosselmeyer has run out of costumes, so instead he gives her a nutcracker doll in the shape of a toy soldier.
Marie is enchanted with the toy and shows it to the other children, including her brother Fritz who tries to take it from her. The children assemble in front of the toymaker's magic mirror and are frightened when they see themselves strangely reflected as adults.
Drosselmeyer then tells the children a fairy tale about a little Princess who was turned into an ugly creature by an evil Mouse Queen who inhabited the dungeons of the palace where she lived. But a handsome Prince broke the spell and restored the Princess's beauty by cracking a magic nut. In revenge, the Mouse Queen cast another spell, turning the handsome Prince into a nutcracker.
Once the story is finished, the party comes to an end and the children begin to disperse, but Marie is so enchanted with her nutcracker that she does not notice the other children have gone and she has been left alone. The clock strikes midnight, and strange creatures emerge from the shadows. The evil Mouse Queen emerges from the magic mirror with a little three headed mouse that soon grows to full size.
Marie gives her nutcracker to Drosselmeyer, whose magic brings it to life as a dashing hero leading an army of toy soldiers to battle with the mice. But the fight is uneven, the Nutcracker is wounded, and only Marie's intervention in stunning the Mouse Queen with a thrown block of cheese saves the day.
Marie helps the nutcracker to his feet and Drosselmeyer casts a spell over them both; so that Marie is no longer a child and the Nutcracker is a handsome Prince. Then the Queen of Mice reappears, but this time the Nutcracker Prince and his troops defeat her, and Drosselmeyer sends him and Marie off to the Wonderland aboard a golden nutshell both.
Act II
Marie and the Nutcracker Prince sail through the clouds to the Wonderland in their nutshell boat. The three-headed mouse, now the Mouse King, follows them there and another battle ensues. The Mouse King tries to carry Marie away but the Nutcracker Prince vanquishes him in a fierce fight.
The King and Queen of the Wonderland welcome the hero and heroine and invite them to a carnival with all the fairytale dolls.
The young Marie finds herself back in the toyshop, where her adult reflection hands her back her prized Nutcracker and the adventure ends.
This Nutcracker, from the highly respected Russian State Ballet of Siberia, is an imaginative and well staged production that puts children to the forefront and stresses the fairy tale aspect of the story. In this version of the story there are no adults, apart from Drosselmeyer himself, present at the christmas party in the toyshop. Drosselmeyer's party is for the children alone (although all but Marie are played by adults), and this sets the tone for tis staging's subsequent subsequent exploration of the difference between child and adulthood. We see not only Marie as both child and adult, but the other children encounter their adult reflections in the magic mirror and it is these reflections that figure in the second act divertissements. Even Drosselmeyer
The costumes are varied and colourful and, from the gnomes to the national dolls and the strange fantastical creatures, are splendid throughout. A nice touch was the six pairings of identically costumed Marie's and Nutcracker Prince's that echoed the originals toward the end of the first act. The sets, consisting of colourful backdrops and wheel-on props were equally splendid, if a little obtrusive on the already small stage.
On the negative side however, the first act is very heavy on pantomime, with no real element of dance emerging until quite late in the act. In the second act divertissements as well, some of the national dances were a little strange. The Arabian dance, for example, was in fact a strange fusion of Arabic and Siamese influences, and the Russian dance, whilst avoiding the cossack stereotype, gave little impression of anything recognisably Russian.
But all in all, this was a refreshingly different enough approach to the classic ballet to hold the interest and was performed throughout with infectious enthusiasm by the talented company. Young Olga Akinfeeva Jr was charming as the child Maria whilst Maria Kuimova was fleet and fluid of foot, dancing consistently well as her adult incarnation and forming a fine partnership with Arkaiy Zinov as her Nutcracker Prince.
A well staged and beautifully designed production of the classic ballet. One to whet the appetite for other productions by this talented company.