UNITED KINGDOM: Celebrities turn out to see Christmas ballet The Nutcracker in London

Record ID: 644276

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Celebrities turn out to see Christmas ballet The Nutcracker in London
  • Date: 17th December 2010
  • Summary: UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION (FILE) (ENGLISH NATIONAL BALLET HANDOUT) CLIP FROM "THE NUTCRACKER"
  • Embargoed: 1st January 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom, United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
  • Reuters ID: LVA646XBGK0GPZALR126PPF394NF
  • Story Text: The National English Ballet marks it's Christmas season of the Nutcracker with special guests including Andy Serkis, Bianca Jagger and Paloma Faith.
    The English National Ballet staged a celebrity evening in London on Wednesday (December 15) to mark it's Christmas season of then popular ballet "The Nutcracker".
    Guests had the chance to mingle with ballerinas before the show and see their ornate costumes up close.
    The dancers showed off tutus generously adorned with crystals, with gem makers Swarovski, sponsoring the production.
    Choreographer Wayne Eagles said the dancers were very appreciative of their gleaming garments.
    Speaking to Reuters Television, he said he'd put his own twist on the classic tale of "The Nutcracker".
    "When you do a new production of any ballet people know well you try to make it slightly different so people don't go oh it's so boring, I've seen it before. Although I've set it back in time in sort of Edwardian, quasi-Victorian times, I'm trying to bring out a different aspect of Nutcracker which is the growing up of Clara, so from a young girl, her first love , so I've focused on that rather than the musician Drosselmeyer and all of that so to make it more of a human story."
    Celebrity attendees included Lord of the Rings actor Andy Serkis, Human Rights Activist Bianca Jagger - who was there with her granddaughter - Jade Jagger's daughter Assisi and musician Paloma Faith.
    Faith told Reuters she was there to get inspiration for her famously outlandish costumes.
    "I don't think I suit, because of my body type, a tutu, but anything over the knee I'd be up for it", she said.
    Andy Serkis who played Gollum in the "Lord of the Rings" films attended the show with his children.
    He told Reuters he was looking forward to a quiet family Christmas before heading to New Zealand in the new year to start work on "The Hobbit".
    "The whole thing's shrouded in mystery. I just know whatever happens it will great fun and there's some amazing cast and obviously having Peter (Jackson) back and helming it again, it's going to be incredible."
    The Nutcracker is one of the most famous and popular ballets in history, but it was a huge flop when it was first shown.
    The production, an adaptation of "The Nutcracker and the King of Mice", written by E.T.A Hoffman and published in 1816, debuted in 1892 and although the score quickly became one of composer Tchaikovsky's most famous compositions, the ballet did not go down well with audiences.
    It's fortunes were revived in 1954, when a version by choreographer George Balanchine was performed in the United States. Audiences loved it and the production was so popular ballet companies started performing it every Christmas.
    The Nutcracker is now the most widely performed ballet in the world.
    The English National Ballet's Christmas season of the "The Nutcracker"December 30.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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