Matthew Bourne's The Nutcracker FEATURE

Heralded as the most popular dance production ever staged in the UK, Matthew Bourne's The Nutcracker returns to Sadler's Wells in London. Amanda Arnold takes a look at the new production, which begins its UK tour in 2012.

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By Amanda Arnold
BritEvents Contributor

This fantastic new version of The Nutcracker visits London's Dance House to celebrate its 20th anniversary with a seven week run before it takes off and tours throughout the UK in 2012.

Choreographed by the undisputed king of dance theatre, Matthew Bourne, this production is set to the beautiful music of The Nutcracker written by Tchaikovsky and has been one of most famous and popular ballets since its premiere in 1892.

The music to this new production will be performed by a live orchestra and with the help of Anthony Ward's fabulously flamboyant sets and costumes along with Bourne's magical fantasy choreography; this show is set to be a very special Christmastime feast for all the family to enjoy.

Although The Nutcracker has always been about the incredible music, the storyline to this ballet has never been the best; Matthew Bourne has used his gift as a storyteller and revamped the tale into a magical dream sequence with an end to it.

This new production has been presented as a musical and certainly has a Hollywood feel to it.

Matthew Bourne's The Nutcracker is set in an orphanage and follow's the story of Clara's journey from a rather bleak Christmas Eve to magical dream state, which takes her through a shimmering ice-skating wonderland to the scrumptious kingdom of Sweetieland.

This fantastic interpretation of The Nutcracker starts off in a real life black and white world, which then turns into a colourful magical dream state world, reminiscent of the famous musical The Wizard Of Oz.

This production of The Nutcracker has been a hit with the critics, who already love Matthew Bourne's work.

The Independent on Sunday wrote A nutcracker that's truly, truly scrumptious. The Observer hailed Matthew Bourne as producing some of the most successful dance productions of the last two decades including Swan Lake, Edward Scissorhands and last year's sell-out hit, Cinderella.

The Sadler's Wells 20th Anniversary production will finish on the 18 January 2012 and will move to the Birmingham Hippodrome on 8 February 2012.

Tickets for Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker are available through BritEvents.com now.

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