The Nutcracker is one of those performances which I could never picture taking pre-school children to see. Aside from the dizzying cost of tickets I would have discounted it as a little too much for them. That was until a friend of mine tipped me off about the film performance which is currently showing in cinemas.
A recording of the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House it has all of the splendour without the cost or pomp. Written by E.T.A Hoffman and set to Tchaikovsky’s instantly recognisable music it tells the tale of Clara who sneaks downstairs on Christmas Eve and finds herself swept up in the magical goings on of toys and animals brought to life. The sheer visual nature of ballet makes it particularly accessible to young children as they don’t necessarily have to follow a storyline to ‘get’ the performance. My friend said that all of the children were enchanted and even the Papas enjoyed themselves.
Running time is two hours which does include intervals. Check local cinemas to see if it is showing near you.
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