London's Royal Ballet enchants with festive favourite 'The Nutcracker'

Record ID: 1700978

  • Title: London's Royal Ballet enchants with festive favourite 'The Nutcracker'
  • Date: 5th December 2022
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English), ROYAL BALLET PRINCIPAL DANCER, WILLIAM BRACEWELL, ON LIVE-CINEMA RELAY OF PRODUCTION, SAYING: “I think it does add a little bit more pressure just because you know there are many more people watching than there would be normally. But to be honest, once we get on stage, Fumi’s such an amazing partner, as soon as we start dancing, I just, I kind of, I really relax and we get into the swing of it and we’ve been rehearsed incredibly well by Darcy Bussell which it’s been a joy to be in the studio with her. So, it’s almost the time before the performance that is maybe a little bit more nerve-wracking, and then as soon as we get out there it all kind of slots into place.”
  • Embargoed: 19th December 2022 16:11
  • Keywords: Ballet Prince Sugar Plum Fairy The Nutcracker The Royal Ballet The Royal Opera House
  • Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
  • Country: UK
  • Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Europe
  • Reuters ID: LVA004447605122022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The Royal Ballet is once again enchanting audiences with its festive favourite “The Nutcracker” this holiday season, with performances beginning at the Royal Opera House in London this week.
    One of the most famous ballets in the world with its well-known score by composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, “The Nutcracker” is a staple for many ballet companies around Christmas time. First staged in St Petersburg in 1892, it begins on Christmas Eve and follows young heroine Clara, who falls asleep and slips into a dream world.
    Principal dancer Fumi Kaneko plays the Sugar Plum Fairy, a role she described as “one of the hardest for a ballerina”.
    “Every time I come back to this role, I feel I’m challenging (myself) every single time … but also it’s so much fun with this amazing music and it carries me to go further and then challenge myself every time,” she told Reuters backstage after a general rehearsal on Monday (December 5).
    The production will be broadcast live to cinemas around the world on Thursday (December 8), opening up the work of Britain’s Royal Ballet company to international audiences.
    “I think it does add a little bit more pressure just because you know there are many more people watching than there would be normally,” principal dancer William Bracewell, who plays the Prince, said.
    “But to be honest, once we get on stage, Fumi’s such an amazing partner, as soon as we start dancing … I really relax and we get into the swing of it and we’ve been rehearsed incredibly well by (British dancer) Darcey Bussell which it’s been a joy to be in the studio with her. So, it’s almost the time before the performance that is maybe a little bit more nerve-wracking, and then as soon as we get out there it all kind of slots into place.”
    After two Christmas seasons interrupted by the Covid pandemic, this year is the first to see a return to normality.
    “It has been very, very difficult for all of us and that reminds me how lucky we are to be able to actually dance on stage, being able to show our hard work, what we’ve been doing every day …. It reminds me to never take it for granted,” Kaneko said.
    “I think it’s a really lovely moment coming to a performance to really get away from reality and be transported to a different world and just take your mind off everything. And I think this ballet really does that incredibly well because the designs are so captivating and the music is iconic,” added Bracewell.
    Royal Ballet director Kevin O’Hare also welcomed the return of the production “to how it should be seen”.
    “Last year and the year before, I used to say we had to forensically go into it to see how we would change it because of Covid restrictions, now you’re getting the full-blown Royal Ballet’s Nutcracker at its best,” he said.
    The Royal Ballet’s production of “The Nutcracker” will run from December 6 until January 14, 2023.
    (Production: Ben Makori, Marie-Louise Gumuchian)
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