Ballet: The Nutcracker

Casse-Noisette (The Nutcracker) - Rubén Julliard Ballet-féerie in two acts. Music by Piotr Ilitch Tchaikovsky. Premiere. On Christmas Eve, the Drosselmayers are hard at work in their toy workshop when their goddaughter, Clara, sneaks out in the cold to pay her eccentric godparents a surprise visit. They give her a wooden nutcracker shaped like a doll before turning life-size dolls into dancers. Then, all kinds of objects come to life before Clara’s startled eyes! Tired from all the excitement, she falls asleep on the sofa. When midnight strikes, the workshop is invaded by King Rat and his rodent army. A long battle ensues for Clara and her nutcracker which takes them to the Land of Snow, where they meet Princess Pirlipat, and then to the Kingdom of Sweets. The enchanting score of “The Nutcracker” contains some of Tchaikovsky’s most iconic pieces, from the beautifully rhythmic “Waltz of the Flowers” and the mysterious “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” to the traditional folk movement “Trepak” or “The Russian Dance”. Rising up through the ranks of the Ballet de l’Opéra national du Rhin, the young choreographer Rubén Julliard uses classic ballet language to put his own stamp on this work, the summum of the post-Romantic repertoire, more faithful to the fantastical spirit of the original story by E. T. A. Hoffmann. The conductor Sora Elisabeth Lee (who graduated from the Opéra Studio in 2021) leads the Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg in this production filled with fantasy, an ideal production for families to celebrate the festive season together. Duration : 1h50 with the interval. Age limit : from 6 years.