This most famous of fantasy ballets for all the family begins as night falls on Christmas Eve. 

As snowflakes fall outside, the warm glow of the open fire sends flickering shadows across the boughs of the Christmas tree and all the presents beneath. 

When midnight strikes, we are swept away to a fairy-tale world where nothing is quite as it seems, toy dolls spring to life, the Mouse King and his mouse army battle with the Nutcracker Prince and we travel through the Land of Snow to an enchanted place where the magic really begins.