A Nutcracker, a Sugar Plumb Fairy and a Mouse King

Sparkly tutu, satin ballet shoes, a twinkling melody and the most delicate choreography- the sugar plumb fairy is the ultimate symbol of dreams and Christmas tradition. And where does the sugar plumb fairy appear? In one of my all-time favourite ballet’s ‘The Nutcracker’. During the era in which the Nutcracker was created the term ‘sugar plumb’ referred not only to a specific sweet, but was also the universal descriptor of everything sweet, delicious and lovely. Unbelievably, the Nutcracker ballet was once not as popular as it is now and originally received very mixed reviews.

The ballet is performed in two acts and is based on E.T.A Hoffman’s 1816 fairy tale ‘The Nutcracker and the Mouse King’. The story follows a young girl named Clara and a Nutcracker given to her by her uncle. During a family Christmas party, an argument between Clara and her brother Frederick causes the Nutcracker to get broken. Later her uncle fixes the doll and Clara puts it safely under the Christmas tree before going to bed. Clara is unable to sleep that night and goes down to the dark room she left earlier and becomes surrounded by big mice. In fact, the whole room was big including her Nutcracker doll which had come to life. The Mouse King reveals his presence and declares battle against the Nutcracker. After defeating the Mouse King, the Nutcracker whisks Clara away to a magical kingdom populated by dolls and they dance the night away. When the dancing ends, Clara finds herself in the arms of her loving father. She struggles to find any of the sights she has seen throughout the evening which leaves Clara and the audience wondering if this big Christmas adventure was just a Dream.

To watch the Nutcracker from your own home over Christmas check out the Birmingham Royal Ballet’s website who will be streaming their performance live on Friday 18th December 2020.