Choreographer: Carlos Acosta
Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Arrangements: Pepe Gavilondo
A fantastic, family-friendly and fun show.
It’s Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, the story of a young girl whose Christmas gift of a toy nutcracker takes her on a flight of imagination to the Land of the Sweets, where wonderful confections of dance are performed just for her. Except… the music is reworked with Latin rhythms; the setting, style and colour schemes are Cuban not European; and the movement is a mix of elegant classic ballet and sultry Latin moves. Leave your expectations at the door and let yourself wallow in the joyous exuberance of it all.
Acosta describes in the programme notes how the celebration of Christmas was banned in Cuba until 1998 and he wanted to bring the exhilaration of those first celebrations to his production of Nutcracker. The setting is unmistakably Cuban from the videography at the start of the show, taking us on a tour of Havana’s streets, to the beach bar setting in the Land of the Sweets, to the rhythms and colours. The mix of a Christmas, wintry story with a location that most of us associate with hot sunny holidays is a heady one.
There are some truly stand out performances in the show. Adria Diaz as an utterly believable and enchanting Clara – the child at the centre of the story, whose gift of a Nutcracker in the form of a mambí guerrilla from the Cuban war of independence inspires her to dream. As well as being a delightful dancer, Adria completely captures the joy and excitement of every young girl on Christmas morning.
Brandy Martinez is fabulous as Clara’s cheeky and mischievous brother Fritz, tormenting her at the family home on Christmas Eve and also as the astonishing Russian dancer in the Land of the Sweets. His athletic dancing takes the breath away.
Alexander Verona is Clara’s magical uncle Drosselmeyer, returning after 30 years in Miami, who brings amazing gifts and magic skills that transform Clara’s modest Cuban home into a mansion, the family’s clothes into elegant costumes and Clara’s transportation to the magical Land of the Sweets. Disappointingly, Alexander does not dance in the production, but his knowing cheekiness and delight in transporting Clara into his magical world is a treat. He is completely recognisable as the long-lost uncle, reveling in delighting his newly met niece.
Apart from the individual excellence on display, three scenes deserve particular mention. The dance of the snowflakes – yes, snowflakes in Cuba! – is sublime. The bright primary colours of Cuba fade away and become icy white as the backdrop and snowflake dancers appear.
Similarly, the Chinese dance, with Leandro Fernandez and Edgar Quintero is stunningly reimagined as a martial arts combat and their athleticism must be seen to be believed. And the fight scene between the King Rat (Frank Junior, whose costume is reminiscent of Elvis in Vegas!) and the Prince (Dani Hernandez) was expertly choreographed.
Acosta introduces traditional Cuban clogs, the chancleta, to several of the dances, which bring a really earthy, natural feel to some of the choreographed pieces – think rain swept Morris dancers doing the sunny Bosa Nova. Invigorating!
However, whilst this is most definitely an extremely enjoyable evening, it is not without weaknesses. The Latin orchestration of some elements of Tchaikovsky’s score won’t work for everyone – occasionally veering towards the sound of hotel-foyer musak.
And some of the ensemble pieces appear less slick than others – perhaps revealing the variation in the skill sets of the dancers, or a hastily rearranged cast list?
And the fight scene between the rats and the soldiers had an overly pantomime feel, with rats that were cuddly rather than scary, whose death was accompanied by a cartoonlike squeak!
But these reservations are massively overcome by the overall joy of the show.
Runs until 10th January 2026, before continuing on tour
