How “The Nutcracker” danced all over the world

THE story of a little girl at Christmas, her toy nutcracker and their adventure in a kingdom of sweets has become an institution. This winter, a version of “The Nutcracker” will be performed on every continent (Antarctica aside). In London alone, there are three major companies and productions to choose from; in America, where “The Nutcracker” can generate up to 45% of a ballet company’s annual revenue, you can see at least one version in every state. Since 2007, “Battle of the Nutcrackers”, an American programme, has pitted international companies against each other. “‘The Nutcracker’ is one of those quintessential Christmas events” says Melissa Hamilton, a first soloist at the Royal Ballet.

All this from a rather flat-footed beginning. E.T.A. Hoffmann, a Prussian gothic-horror writer, had provided the kernel of the story in “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” (1816), but it was the lighter and more child-friendly version written in 1844 by Alexandre Dumas, a French novelist, that was turned into a two-act ballet. The...Continue reading