Der Nussknacker - International Festival Ballet & Festival Orchestra - schedule, program & buy tickets

The Best Ballet Fairy Tale of All Time
Music: P. I. Tchaikovsky
Choreography: L. Ivanov and M. Petipa
Edited by E. Antsupova

Enchanting Russian ballet for young and old alike. A masterpiece accompanied by a live orchestra.

The ballet “The Nutcracker” is based on Alexandre Dumas’s adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s story “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King.” Tchaikovsky’s musical adaptation premiered on December 18, 1892, in Saint Petersburg, choreographed by Lev Ivanov, and delighted children and adults alike.

This classic ballet has often been highly praised by critics around the world. But as the saying goes: “Better to see it once than to hear about it a hundred times.” Experience the beautiful ballet “The Nutcracker” with the International Festival Ballet and Festival Orchestra.

The story centers on Marie. On Christmas Eve, her godfather, Drosselmeyer, gives her a nutcracker as a gift. As she goes to sleep, she dreams of a battle between the toy soldiers led by the Nutcracker and the army of the Mouse King. With her help, the Nutcracker emerges victorious and is then transformed into a prince. The prince travels with Marie to the Land of Sweets. Their journey takes them through the fir forest to Sugarburg Castle, where the Sugar Plum Fairy, who resides there, hosts a celebration in honor of her guests. In addition, the magnificent set design by the brilliant theater designer Vyacheslav Okunev—who works for the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg and La Scala in Milan, among others— beautiful costumes, and the boundless elegance and carefree lightness of the International Festival Ballet ensemble all contribute to a dreamy and fairy-tale-like version of a classical ballet that continues to fascinate even after more than 100 years.

Subject to change.