The Nutcracker: An Evolution

We performed our first version of The Nutcracker, choreographed by David Lichine, on 28 December, 1963, at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre. We’ve been gliding off to the Land of Sweets ever since. A lavish production by the Russian husband-and-wife team Valentina Kozlova and Leonid Kozlov in the 1980s was followed by an inventive contemporary version by Graeme Murphy in the 1990s. In 2014, we took Peter Wright’s sublime traditional production into our repertoire.

Come whirl in the snow as we trace the changing look of the ultimate Christmas ballet.

The Eighties

Valentina Kozlova, with Simon Dow, shines as the Sugar Plum Fairy in the production she and her husband Leonid created for The Australian Ballet in 1982. Kozlova, a dancer of the Bolshoi Ballet, defected from Russia in 1979; she was a principal artist of The Australian Ballet, and later of New York City Ballet. The Kozlovs' production featured exquisite, whimsical designs by painter Hugh Oliviero.

The Nineties

Graeme Murphy's inventive version has an ageing Clara remembering her life as a Mariinsky Ballet star, travelling all over the world with the Ballets Russes after the heartbreak of losing her lover in the Russian Revolution.

The Two Thousands

When it comes to traditional versions of The Nutcracker, none is more perfect in each detail Peter Wright's. Every element of the spell, from the Christmas party to the slightly sinister Drosselmeyer to the fight with the Rat King to the wondrous Land of Sweets, is beautifully realised. As London's Independent critic put it, "its marvels are properly marvellous".