The Nutcracker

Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker has for decades been an essential part of the world’s and the OPERA’s run-up to Christmas. In memory of the previous production that had been in the repertoire for more than half a century, for the Christmas of 2015, a newly buffed-up show was staged that follows classical ballet traditions while still conforming to the requirements of 21st-century dance and set design. Partnering with ballet director Tamás Solymosi to choreograph a new fairy-tale ballet for the classical-music piece was a true Nutcracker specialist: the internationally renowned Wayne Eagling. It was the first time in the life of the Hungarian National Ballet that an artist of such worldwide stature had developed a choreography tailored specifically for it, with its unique characteristics in mind, in order to treat audiences to the ballet’s Christmas magic in a version that is even more full of spectacle and dance than the previous one.