Birmingham Royal Ballet: The Nutcracker

Birmingham Hippodrome
November 27, 2025

Ah, Nutcracker. Great characters, extraordinary stage designs, a transformation scene that I doubt will ever be bettered, gorgeous costumes, and brilliant classical choreography performed by some of the country’s best dancers. That’s Sir Peter Wright and Birmingham Royal Ballet’s version of the festive favourite. And all set to that beautiful Tchaikovsky score everyone knows and loves. What’s not to love?

There are people who can’t stand it, of course. Indeed, there was a time when, while I wasn’t quite that way inclined, I could take it or leave it. I would go, but not exactly enthusiastically. The funny thing is, even in those years, I would come away very contented and all warm inside. It meant the festive season had arrived.

Where Wright succeeds is in tapping into the perfect Christmas, the happy family gathering of our dreams, a time of warmth, friendship and magic. The ballet is a bit like dropping in on an old friend. It always sends you home happy, even though you know all the jokes, you know all the magic tricks, you know all the dances.

Or at least, you think you do, because Wright freely admits that he’s always loved to tinker and there are always little changes to spot. There’s also the way different dancers, and the children, approach their roles. Or maybe you spot something you’ve just never noticed before, or forgotten, like the way light comes from high above onto Clara and the Nutcracker’s Act One pas de deux like the rays of the moon peeking down on the scene.

The Nutcracker doesn’t just take Clara to that magic place where dreams come alive but it takes those watching along for the ride too. And it is Clara who is at the heart of everything. Wright weaves her journey into the whole ballet. She’s at the centre throughout, from the Stahlbaum’s party to the battle and its aftermath, to all the divertissements in Act Two. Not once does he lose sight of the fact that there is a story to tell; and there is no better choreographer at telling one.

Maïlène Katoch was quite simply a joyous Clara whose face told you she was revelling in every moment of her adventure. Whether with her dancing partner, the Nutcracker or later, she was inch perfect. Mind you, I’ve always felt Clara receiving a Sugar Plum Fairy doll as a gift is a bit odd for a teenager. Wouldn’t a pair of pointe shoes be better? But Katoch convinced that it was perfectly normal, conveying all the necessary childlike joy.

The Act One pas de deux that follows the battle is always a spine-tingling dance. Coming as it does with gently romantic undertones, it reminds us that Clara’s journey is not only to the fantastic Act Two world conjured up by Drosselmeyer, but also one from child to adult.

Here and in the later Grand pas de deux, Riku Ito proved a handsome Nutcracker turned Prince. He proved not only a perfect and considerate partner, but shone brightly with some effortless turns and jumps, and a very fast manège around the stage.

As Drosselmeyer, Miles Gilliver transitioned perfectly from extravagant party magician to someone altogether darker and mysterious, to almost kindly uncle.

After the wintry Snowflakes scene, led by the excellent Freida Kaden as The Snow Fairy, and Clara’s flying to Act Two, courtesy of a magic goose, the ballet gives us a whole series of dancing delights. These always provide opportunities for dancers from lower down the company to show what they can do. Kaden, Rafael Bejarno and Ixan Lioca Ferrer were flamboyant and precise in the Spanish Dance, while Amelia Thompson, Louis Andreasen and Haoliang Feng we sensual in the Arabian. Ryan Felix and Thomas Kujawa were energetic in the Chinese, although on that score, it’s always the Russian, danced here by Alfie-Lee Hall, Tom Hazelby and Luca Mollica that wins out. The Mirlitons always brings a smile, and memories of a certain TV commercial for those old enough to remember, before the dazzle of the Waltz of the Flowers, in which Lucy Waine was a lovely Rose Fairy.

It sort of always feels a bit of a shame that whoever is playing Clara doesn’t get to dance the Grand pas de deux. But Yaoqian Shang sparkled like the crystals on her tutu. She and Ito made a fine pair. It is one of the perfect ballerina roles, a glittering dancer being promenaded around, supported, lifted, varied by her handsome cavalier.

And so, for Clara, to home, and for us, back to the grey November weather.

Ah, Nutcracker. It’s not just a box of chocolates, it’s Quality Street, Celebrations and every selection box out there all rolled into one. A ballet that wraps young and old alike in a warm, familiar fantasy, it’s a chance to snuggle down and forget the world outside for a couple of hours. Perfect.

Birmingham Royal Ballet perform The Nutcracker at the Birmingham Hippodrome to December 13, 2025.