Birmingham Royal Ballet, The Nutcracker

"However, for true magic none can best the way in which Birmingham Royal Ballet's The Nutcracker transforms the Royal Albert Hall's unwieldy, cavernous , proscenium-free space into a dreamy, immersive wintry landscape, thanks to an inspired series of projections by 59 Productions. Drenching the backdrop and sides of the stage with colour and imagery, it creates warm homely interiors, then a giant Christmas tree that gives way to chilly, starlit skies."

"Drenching the backdrop and sides of the stage with colour and imagery, it creates warm homely interiors, then a giant Christmas tree that gives way to chilly, starlit skies and a forest of naked trees, their branches covered in glittering ice crystals, as Clara and her Nutcracker embark on their dream journey. Not forgetting, of course, the soft snow flakes that fall silently on stage and audience at the end of Act I, even while human snowflakes in pristine white whirl around the stage."

Most productions of The Nutcracker aim to create magic, centered on dreams, imagination, a mysterious magician figure, and Tchaikovsky's score. Four London productions ranged from the Royal Ballet's majestic staging to Valentino Zucchetti's slimmed-down New English Ballet Theatre version and English National Ballet's new gleaming Nutcracker. Birmingham Royal Ballet's production uniquely transforms the Royal Albert Hall's proscenium-free space into an immersive wintry landscape through projections by 59 Productions. The projections create warm interiors, a giant Christmas tree, starlit skies and forests of glittering, icy trees. Soft snow falls on stage and audience, while dancers in white whirl as human snowflakes. BRB's run in London is a short post-Christmas season that sells out.

Read at www.london-unattached.com