Dance / The Nutcracker, Victorian State Ballet. At the Canberra Theatre, until November 14. Reviewed by MICHELLE POTTER.

The Nutcracker is an end-of-year theatre favourite for young and old and has been on the dance calendar in Australia since at least the 1950s.

From then on, it was enjoyed as an annual Christmas event from the Borovansky Ballet.

While there have been a number of productions since then, each with a slightly different take on the narrative, the basic storyline begins with a Christmas party held by the Stahlbaum family; the gift of a toy nutcracker to Clara, the Stahlbaum daughter, by her godfather, Herr Drosselmyer; and a dream-like follow-up in which Clara and the nutcracker (turned Prince) fight off a bevy of mice.

They then travel though a snowy landscape to the Kingdom of Sweets where they are entertained by dancers representing a variety a sweets and other foods.

The production by Victorian State Ballet was choreographed, with the exception of one or two moments that maintained traditional choreography, by co-director of the company, Michelle Cassar de Sierra.

Despite a few problematic technical incidents that occurred at the end of some of the more difficult choreographic moments, and a few design elements that for me were a little over-developed, this production was beautifully presented.

Productions from Victorian State Ballet always engage the audience from beginning to end and this Nutcracker was no exception. The two hours of performance just sped along.

The work began with visitors making their way to the party in the Stahlbaum house. Nothing terribly new here except that the visitors arrived via the auditorium instead of from off-stage. And so began the inclusive feeling to the production.

Particular choreographic highlights included the way the mice looked non-human as they jumbled around during their contact with Clara and the Nutcracker Prince before being fought off; and the snowflake scene with its approach to group movement that seemed carefully arranged but also diverse enough to remind us that snowflakes fall randomly.

In terms of particular performers, a relatively new member of the company, Emily Ditchburn, stood out as Drosselmeyer’s assistant and then as the Snow Queen. The fluidity of her movements and the impressive way she held her upper body was exceptional. Then Hannah Leong attracted my attention in the Spanish Chocolate Dance in Act II for the way in which she approached the choreography and made it shine.

Given that Victorian State Ballet is a relatively small company it was interesting to see dancers take on several roles in the overall production. Fritz, brother to Clara, was played by Xander Vandenberg during the family party in a decidedly annoying manner (as befits the role). Then he turned up in Act II in the Arabian Coffee Dance and then in Waltz of the Flowers as a purely classical dancer. But every dancer in the company deserves credit for the way in which they embraced their roles.

On the way out of the theatre, I was walking behind a very young girl wearing a pink tulle dress who danced her way from the theatre to a car park. This Nutcracker impressed pretty much everyone from young to old.

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