Broadcast live from London’s The Royal Opera House, dance fans took to their seats in December 2017 at Christchurch’s The Regent Centre for a live screening of The Royal Ballet’s sell-out performance of The Nutcracker.
This festive favourite, originally composed by Lev Ivanov in 1892 and set to an unmistakably beautiful Tchaikovsky score, features the young Clara who creeps down the stairs on Christmas Eve to play with her Nutcracker doll only to be whisked off on a magical adventure.
Magician Drosselmeyer takes Clara through a Land of Snow and the Kingdom of Sweets, defeating the terrible Mouse King and meeting the Sugar Plum Fairy before performing a spellbinding Pas de Deux with her first love.
Peter Wright’s production for The Royal Ballet is a real treat for Christmas, with twinkling lights, dancing snowflakes and magical effects. There were three showings at The Regent Centre – a live broadcast on Tuesday 5th December and two ‘encores’ on Thursday 7th December.