"So far, four Nutcrackers have been announced for London's Christmas 2025 season, starting in November and stretching beyond Christmas Day to the very end of the year. What follows is a guide to those four shows, all splendid in their own way, in chronological order. All are centred on a Christmas Eve party at Clara's home, and the magic that happens as the clock strikes midnight, leading to a series of famous divertissements in Act II;"
"Acosta shifted the setting of the ballet from bourgeois Europe to make-do Havana, where three generations of Clara's family are celebrating Christmas with a boisterous party, marked by much jostling, laughing, and traditional dances, including a conga, of course! Magic happens courtesy of the rich Miami emigr e9, Uncle El edas, and his collection of mechanical dolls based on figures from Cuba's tradition, including Santeria gods and the mambises, the guerrillas who fought for Cuban independence."
Four distinct Nutcracker productions are scheduled in London for the 2025 Christmas season, running from November through the end of the year. Each production centers on Clara's Christmas Eve party and the midnight magic that leads to Act II divertissements, but each offers an individual interpretation. Carlos Acosta's Nutcracker in Havana relocates the setting to make-do Havana with three generations celebrating, Cuban dances including a conga, and magical mechanical dolls owned by Uncle Elías representing Santeria gods and mambises. Act II takes place in a 1940s nightclub with Cuban-inflected divertissements while the Sugar Plum Fairy pas de deux remains unchanged. Tchaikovsky's score is sensitively arranged by Pepe Gavilondo.
Read at London Unattached
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