The Nutcracker

The ballet The Nutcracker was first staged in Bulgaria at the Ruse Opera in 1962. The choreography was created by the renowned Bulgarian choreographer Asen Manolov, who at the time headed the Ruse ballet company, and the production conductor was Hristo Stanishev.

In 2011, choreographer Natalia Osipova presented European audiences with her original interpretation of P. I. Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker. The production was created with her private ballet company and featured international participation by ballet artists from Russia and France. The company presented the performance on tour in Lille, Brussels, and Antwerp, where it was performed multiple times before audiences numbering in the thousands. The project was revived between 2012 and 2016 and attracted growing interest from audiences in France.

Skillfully and harmoniously, with a confident command of both classical expressive techniques and contemporary dance styles, Osipova combines in her production the most striking features of classical dance and neoclassicism, delicately refracted through the expressiveness of modern dance. The sets and costumes were created from her designs in the master theatrical workshops of St. Petersburg and convey the warmth of the intimate feeling with which everyone experiences the wonder of the Christmas season each year. At the same time, the scenery is dazzling and imposing—memorable and captivating in its beauty.

The ballet is filled with the anticipation of something long awaited about to arrive, evoking that thrill of impatience familiar to everyone from childhood. Innocence, enchanting simplicity, and the childlike openness through which we enter the world of childhood fantasies create the ballet’s unique atmosphere—one that never fails to captivate the audience’s senses.

Choreography and artistic direction: Natalia Osipova

Ballet and orchestra: State Opera – Ruse

Conductor: Dimitar Kosev