Nutcracker / Caisse Noisette Archives » Voices of British Ballet

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Alicia Markova in Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker at Festival Ballet, photo Gordon Anthony. London, England, 1950 © Gordon Anthony / Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Timeline Event » 1937 – Les Ballets Trois Arts established

John Regan had trained with Enrico Cecchetti and Nicholas Legat before he joined Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes and the Markova-Dolin Ballet. In 1937 Regan formed his own group, the International...

Timeline Event » 1946 – First performances by Sadler’s Wells Opera Ballet, later Sadler’s Wells Theatre Ballet

Having appeared in operas at Sadler’s Wells, the new Sadler’s Wells Opera Ballet’s first purely ballet evening took place on 8 April, 1946, with a programme comprising Ninette de Valois’ 1943...

Timeline Event » 1973 – Premiere of Peter Darrell’s The Nutcracker by Scottish Theatre Ballet

In 1973, Scottish Theatre Ballet presented a new production of The Nutcracker. Using Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s score, Darrell created largely new choreography, but retained the original dances by...

Timeline Event » 1987 – Matthew Bourne’s Adventures in Motion Pictures established

Matthew Bourne graduated from the Laban Centre (now Trinity Laban) in London with a degree in dance theatre in 1985. After this, as choreographer and artistic director of his first company,...

Timeline Event » 1990 – Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet renamed Birmingham Royal Ballet

In 1987, Birmingham City Council and the Birmingham Hippodrome invited Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet to become a resident company, meaning Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet would relocate its base to...

Timeline Event » 2005 – Wayne Eagling becomes director of English National Ballet

Wayne Eagling was appointed director of English National Ballet in 2005, where he stayed until 2012. During Eagling’s tenure, the company extended its repertory to perform such works as Kenneth...

Grace Note » Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov and Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker

In his own training Petipa combined elements of both French and Italian traditions. From this heritage he did much not only to create the Russian school from which his great ballets flowed, but also...