ballet

The classic ballet The Nutcracker, telling the story of young Clara’s adventures, gains new meaning by being combined with Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. The extraordinary stage grandeur, characteristic of Hungarian choreographer Youri Vámos’ style, is reflected both in the lavish costumes and sets as well as in the unique theatrical imagination.Technically demanding for the ballet company yet amusing and full of emotion, this tale about the Scrooge family intertwines with the classic themes of the ballet libretto and its iconic dance scenes: the Snowflakes, the character dances, and the spectacular pas de deux.

This production is designed for the whole family, yet it is ambitious enough to satisfy even the most discerning ballet connoisseurs.

---

Synopsis of the Libretto

A festive Christmas atmosphere fills the streets, where holiday candles are being lit. The only person untouched by the joyful spirit is Scrooge – a greedy and heartless moneylender. Even on Christmas Eve, he does not hesitate to remind his indebted neighbors of their unpaid loans.

When Bob Cratchit, Scrooge’s clerk and the neighborhood’s favorite, dares to joke about his employer’s grim demeanor, Scrooge dismisses him without hesitation. Bob is left without money or work – unable to buy the family’s Christmas turkey, and his daughter Clara will not receive her longed-for present: a doll – the Nutcracker.

The girl is heartbroken. In despair, she begs the moneylender to give her the toy. But in anger, Scrooge destroys the Nutcracker doll.

At that moment, in the office of “Scrooge & Marley,” the ghost of his deceased partner appears. Marley’s spirit, bound in chains from the depths of hell, has come to warn him. Yet Scrooge pays little attention and goes home.

There, he experiences strange hallucinations, but still lies down to sleep. Terrifying nightmares plague him: the Spirit of Death, along with his servants, binds him in chains and drags him toward the infernal abyss.

At last, the good Spirit of Christmas rescues him from torment. The spirit helps him make amends: Scrooge repairs the Nutcracker and gives it to Clara as a gift. In his dream, he witnesses the girl’s great joy, shared by other children whom he also blesses with presents.

When he awakens the next morning, he is a completely changed man…

Shaken by what he has lived through, Scrooge hastens to set everything right – and discovers that in reality, almost everything unfolds just as in the happy ending of his dream.