English National Ballet Nutcracker

Last Updated on March 24, 2026

A Fresh Take on the Christmas Ballet and a Sugar Plum to Savour

4.0 out of 5.0 stars

English National Ballet’s Nutcracker, now settled in at the London Coliseum for the festive season, is fresh, colourful, very original and, occasionally, a little too sweet – just like all Christmas treats should be.

If Sir Peter Wright’s productions of The Nutcracker for The Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet are the benchmarks against which other Nutcrackers are inevitably judged, ENB’s Nutcracker, brand new last year, carves a rightful place for itself as a youthful, quirky, often inspired alternative. 

Conceived and co-choreographed by company director Aaron S Watkin and in-demand dance maker Arielle Smith, with crucial input from designer Dick Bird,  ENB’s Nutcracker doesn’t deviate much from the traditional tale – Act I is set in the Christmas Eve party in Clara’s home, where she is given a nutcracker doll by the magician Drosselmeyer.

Act II is set in a magical land, where Clara travels with her magically transformed Nutcracker Prince and witnesses a series of divertissements, culminating in The Sugar Plum Fairy pas de deux.

So far, so traditional.  But It’s the differences that make this production.  Framed by Dick Bird’s stunning designs, ENB’s Nutcracker is set in Edwardian London:  a prologue shows Clara and her mother crossing bustling, gas-lit streets where suffragettes compaign cheek-by-jowl with chimney sweeps, food carts, and a band of child pickpockets (with tails emerging from under their rags).  

They’re going to ‘Drosselmeyer’s Emporium of Sweets and Delights’ to buy sweetmeats for the party; these will come to life as the divertissements of Act II, set in the Land of Sweets and Delights; in fact, most of the characters that appear in Act I morph into the characters of Clara’s dream. So, those child pickpockets transmogrify into mice (hence the tails) for the crucial battle between mice and the Nutcracker soldiers, which results in the Nutcracker’s transformation into a Prince; Clara’s mother and father become The Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier; and so on.

Act I may be a party scene, but it’s far from a staid occasion: in fact, Arielle Smith imbued it with all manner of quirks: slightly unruly children, an insubordinate pair of servants, and an impish, hyperactive Drosselmeyer, a role to which Junior Souza brings particular spice.  It’s a busy party too, with little vignettes of social interaction happening simultaneously to keep the audience busy and engaged.   

As ever, the children, fully committed and in character, are a pleasure to watch.  Delilah Wiggins reprises the role of the child Clara with irresistible charm and precocious professionalism.

In her dream, Clara is older and on press night, danced with vitality and assurance by Ivana Bueno.  Her Nutcracker Prince was company newcomer Paulo Rodrigues, who is very easy on the eye and possesses elegant lines and solid technique.

Smooth scene changes take Clara and her Prince to a frozen land, framed by a filigree of icicles – truly, Dick Bird’s sets are wondrous! –  through a snow storm and onto a sleigh pulled by the ice carving of a seahorse. Away they fly through clouds and above slowly moving landscapes. It’s truly magical.

In Act II, the problematic national dances are replaced by dances symbolising national sweets.   If it’s Spain, it must be a vigorous, ‘saleroso’ Turrón.

There are Ukrainian sweets, led by an acrobatic Rentaro Nakaaki, waltzing Buttercream Roses, and German marzipan flutes, but some dances work better than others.  A pas de trois representing the Arabian drink Sahlab responds to Tchaikovsky, sultry, midnight-in-the-oasis-type music with flowing dancing by Minju Kang as the drink and José Maria Lorca Menchón and Elvis Nudo as the supporting cinnamon sticks.

Much less successful is the brief and unengaging Tanghulu (Chinese candied hawthorn berries), for two men with nothing interesting to do.

Of course, the best received of the divertissements was Liquorice Allsorts, and how could it not be when it was performed by a band of tiny tots kitted out as the said liquorice sweets, all happy, impeccable performers?  

However, the pinnacle of Act II is the Sugar Plum Fairy pas de deux, and on opening night it was performed by ENB’s star partnership of Sangeun Lee and Gareth Haw.

It’s not easy to find words to convey Sangeun Lee’s sublime artistry.

Her ease with technique, complemented by extraordinary musicality, a regal bearing, and a smile that lights up the room all the way to ‘the gods’ and beyond, all enhanced by a profound chemistry with Gareth Haw, made this an unforgettable performance that lifted ENB’s Nutcracker to another plane.

Conducted by Music Director Maria Seletskaja, the English National Ballet Philharmonic provided a spirited reading of Tchaikovsky’s famous score.

English National Ballet Nutcracker is at the London Coliseum from 11 December to 11 January 2026

London Coliseum
St Martin’s Lane
London WC2N 4ES