State Ballet of Georgia - Review: The Nutcracker
The State Ballet of Georgia performs The Nutcracker at the Grand Opera House, Belfast
Review by: Amy Growcott
Date line: November 30h 2025
From the 18th - 22nd November 2025, the State Ballet of Georgia performed at the Grand Opera House in Belfast, Northern Ireland. For the company’s tour to Ireland, they brought every ballet lover’s favourite Christmas treat - The Nutcracker, in a production staged by Artistic Director Nina Ananiashvili and Alexei Fadeyechev. Composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and originally choreographed by Lev Ivanov, The Nutcracker premièred on the 18th of December [O.S. 6th December] 1892 at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg. The ballet did not enjoy a great success, but it slowly gained popularity throughout the 20th century. Today, it is perhaps the most popular ballet in the repertoire. Last year, I saw the State Ballet of Georgia perform in Swan Lake in the Bord Gais Theatre in Dublin and I attended their evening Nutcracker performance on the 20th of November. Their Swan Lake production, also staged by Ananiashvili and Fadeyechev, is based on the old Bolshoi version staged by Asaf Messerer after Alexander Gorsky, and I was left disappointed by the lacklustre production. I wasn’t sure what to expect of their Nutcracker, but I had hoped it might be better than their Swan Lake. Unfortunately, that was not to be. The Nutcracker Doll - Photo by Klaus Wegele© Ananiashvili and Fadeyechev’s The Nutcracker was doing have some levels of entertainment, but it only proved to have the same problems as their Swan Lake. While the décor and costumes were nice and colourful and the dancers gave stellar performances with accomplished technique and musicality, none of that made up for yet another lacklustre production. Just like Swan Lake, this Nutcracker is heavily based on the Bolshoi version, in this case, the late Yuri Grigorovich’s version, first staged in 1966, which is still a prominent member of the Bolshoi repertoire. From what I have seen so far with the State Ballet of Georgia, it becomes all too clear that the influence of the Bolshoi, especially Grigorovich, is just too strong on the directorship. Ananiashvili and Fadeyechev are both former Bolshoi principal dancers and were schooled and raised in Grigorovich’s cult. And the results of such schooling are not good. For this Nutcracker, the only supposed effort to make the production unique in any way is that the setting of the story has been changed from Germany to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi and the characters have been given Georgian names - Clara is renamed Barbare; her brother Fritz is renamed Levan and the family name is now Dadiani instead of Stalbaum. Only Drosselmeyer is still German. In the party scene, the boys, and adults (except Drosselmeyer) all wear traditional Georgian attire, but changing the setting of the story is not enough to make a production unique; it’s the choreography and the staging that does that. This production was just basically Grigorovich’s Nutcracker set in Georgia, with a few changes and new additions here and there. After Tchaikovsky’s delightful overture, the ballet started with an opening in a street in Tbilisi where the guests for the Dadiani family’s Christmas party were arriving. This scene was nicely staged, depicting some fun in the snow, including snowball fights with the children and a little bit of comedy from a couple of drunkards. The last to arrive was Drosselmeyer, who, as he is in Russian/Soviet productions, was a danced role as opposed to a purely mimed role. Afterwards, the stage darkened and relit to reveal the parlour of the Dadiani house where the Christmas tree had been lit, and the family and their guests gathered for the party. The Dadiani family and their guests - State Ballet of Georgia© The dances started with the famous Marche, which was very similar, if not the same as Grigorovich’s, in which Levan (Fritz), Barbare (Clara) and the other children danced with their new presents. Like in Grigorovich’s version, the children were played by adults, and Levan and the boys were played by women in travesty. But why not just use students, girls, and boys? After the dances of the children and the guests, it was time for Drosselmeyer’s show of dancing dolls. The first doll dance was danced by Harlequin and Columbine dolls, which was a lovely pas de deux, but not doll-like enough. It was lacking fast, staccato steps and movements that one would expect from doll dances. The second doll dance was danced by the Nutcracker, who remained life-sized and was played by a dancer throughout the whole first scene (no doll or puppet). Barbare and Levan fought over the Nutcracker doll and danced with him. This was another element taken from Grigorovich, but the choreography was quite clumsy and uncoordinated. After the final dance, the party ended and concluded with another scene in the outside street as the guests departed. The next scene took us back into the dark Dadiani home. Drosselmeyer re-entered and suddenly, mice began to appear. Barbare entered and Drosselmeyer seemed to put her in a trance. Then, he suddenly went into a very un-Drosselmeyer mode when he began dancing choreography that made him look like the Evil Genie from the Russian/Soviet productions of Swan Lake. Not the most suitable choreography for a good magician and/or wizard. Then came the moment when Drosselmeyer makes the Christmas tree grow, which led to yet another Grigorovich element - the appearance of the foreign dolls from the Act 2 divertissements. After the Christmas tree grew, it revealed a magic door (with moving eyes on the frame above, which was a little creepy). Drosselmeyer opened the door and out came the dolls. Last to emerge was the Mouse King, carried on the shoulders of some of his mice. The dolls ran away in terror, while the Nutcracker sprung to life and thus began the battle. The Mouse King and his mice - State Ballet of Georgia© The battle scene was very devoid of drama and was not a very convincing fight scene. Along with a small army of toy soldiers (all danced by women in travesty) to assist the Nutcracker, some of the foreign dolls also took part. When I say, “take part,” at least two attempted to help the Nutcracker fight and even fired a cannon at the mice before cowering out and running away. Perhaps these dancers should have been cast as more toy soldiers? That way, the Nutcracker would have had a bigger army. After a fight between the Nutcracker and the Mouse King, Barbare, with some egging on from Drosselmeyer, came to the rescue by hitting the Mouse King with her slipper and knocking him out. The Nutcracker was also knocked out, until Drosselmeyer scared off the mice and revived him, revealing him to be transformed into a handsome prince and introduced him to Barbare. The final scene began with the Journey Pas de deux and concluded with the Waltz of the Snowflakes. The Journey Pas de deux and the Waltz of the Snowflakes were the best dances in the first act. The latter was well staged, and it began with a short scene in which Barbare, and the Nutcracker-Prince joined the dolls for some fun and games in the snow, echoing the party guests in scene 1. Afterwards, in came two groups of eight snowflakes, one after the other, each carrying a giant snowflake and they all gathered for their dance; Barbare and the Nutcracker-Prince also joined in. It ended with Drosselmeyer flying in on a giant ladybird, which Barbare and the Nutcracker exited on. The Waltz of the Snowflakes - Photo by Klaus Wegele© Act 2 is the most exciting of the two acts of The Nutcracker with the delightful divertissements, but “exciting” is not how I would describe this production’s second act. The opening, again, echoed Grigorovich - Drosselmeyer led the dolls across the stage, and they were followed by the Mouse King and his mice. When Barbare and the Nutcracker-Prince arrived, the Mouse King attacked the group, but the Nutcracker fought and killed him. The Land of Sweets was then revealed and enter the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier, whose presence was the only big departure from the Russian/Soviet productions, let alone Grigorovich’s. The divertissements were nicely staged and well performed; the ones that gained the biggest applause were the Chinese and Russian dances. Yet another Grigorovich element appeared when all the dolls (and Barbare and the Nutcracker) gathered to dance a coda to the music for the Dance of Mother Ginger and her Polichnelles. This is perhaps the most disappointing staging to this music number I have ever seen because its static choreography severely lacks energy and creativity and does not match the upbeat, energetic, exciting nature of the music. Anastasia Matvienko as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Filippo Montanari as her Cavalier - State Ballet of Georgia© Afterwards came the Waltz of the Flowers… except this wasn’t Waltz of the Flowers, rather a waltz for everyone as all the characters participated, including Barbare and the Nutcracker-Prince, and the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier, along with ten women as flowers. I couldn’t understand the point of including all the characters in the waltz, especially when the foreign dolls had already had their dances and the Grand Pas de deux was about to come. Whatever the reasons of this decision, it presented a different version of the Waltz of the Flowers, but not an impressive one; it just painted a very confusing picture made up of unnecessary details. The Waltz of the Flowers - Photo by Lado Vachnadze© Finally came the Grand Pas de deux performed by the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier, and this proved to be the best dance of the whole production, let alone the second act. Afterwards, everyone came together for the final dance and the ballet ended with Barbare waking up from her dream back home. She was greeted by her parents, Levan and Drosselmeyer and she and Levan made peace when the latter let her have the Nutcracker doll and then, Drosselmeyer presented Levan with a doll-sized nutcracker, thus concluding the ballet. Despite the many shortcomings of the production, the evening was not a complete disappointment as the dancers, especially the leads, were worth watching. Sesili Guguchia danced Barbare with stellar technique and a gracious warmth that added to the character. As her Nutcracker-Prince was Joshua Nunamaker, with whom she was excellently paired. Nunamaker served as a good partner and presented excellent bravura, especially in his jumps and pirouettes. Sesili Guguchia as Barbare and Joshua Nunamaker as the Nutcracker-Prince - State Ballet of Georgia© Dancing the Sugar Plum Fairy was world-renowned principal ballerina Anastasia Matvienko, who presented excellent bravura, beautiful lines, and grace, especially in her variation. Her Cavalier was danced by Filippo Montanari, who showcased a very impressive jump and accomplished bravura, and strongly partnered Mativenko in the pas de deux. There’s no denying the talent of the dancers of the State Ballet of Georgia, which is all the more reason why, production-wise, they deserve better than this. Effort was clearly made with the décor and costumes, especially those of Act 2, but the choreography reverts the company to the static style of Sovietism. Either way, it was a pleasure to see them again and it is never Christmas without The Nutcracker. The State Ballet of Georgia in the finale of The Nutcracker - Photo by Lado Vachnadze©
High Points Youth Ballet: Spring Gala
High Points Youth Ballet presents The Fairy Doll and La Bayadère
Date line: July 13th 2025
In the month of June, I attended three ballet performances and the first was on the 1st June at the Drama Theatre of Stranmilis University College in Belfast where, on the 31st May and the 1st June, my friends at High Points Youth Ballet held their annual Spring Gala. Each year, for the Spring Gala, the HPYB team brings two excerpts from two ballets, one performed by their junior students, and one performed by their senior students. This year, the Spring Gala featured a suite of Josef Bayer’s The Fairy Doll and The Kingdom of the Shades from Marius Petipa and Ludwig Minkus’s La Bayadère. The students of High Points Youth Ballet in The Fairy Doll - Photograph by Khali And Me Photography© The Fairy Doll is a one-act ballet and is one of the more rarely performed ballets, perhaps because it is deemed a “students’ ballet.” However, it was not created as such. It premièred in Vienna in 1888 and was subsequently staged in Russia, first in Moscow in 1897 and then by the brothers Nikolai and Sergei Legat in Saint Petersburg in 1903. Some of the most famous performers of the titular character include Matilda Kschessinskaya, Olga Preozhenskaya, Elena Lukom and, the most famous of all, Anna Pavlova. Today, The Fairy Doll is traditionally performed by the students of the Vaganova Academy in Saint Petersburg in a version staged by Konstantin Sergeyev in 1989 and it is also performed by several schools in the west, but it is absent from the main repertoire. Its most famous piece, which occasionally appears on the main stage, is the Fairy Doll Pas de trois, which was created by the Legat brothers and the composer Riccardo Drigo. The story is of a magic toyshop where, during closed hours when the shop is empty, the dolls come to life and dance throughout the night. The most spectacular of them all is the Fairy Doll, who is elected their queen. When dawn breaks, the dolls return to their places and all returns to normality. For their Spring Gala, Artistic Director Jake Allison and répétiteur Dr Anna Carapelotti presented a suite of the dolls’ dances, which was performed by the junior students, with the exception of the titular character who was danced by senior student Zara Crawford. The curtain opened to reveal the dolls in a tableau, surrounding six sleeping girls. All is still until the Fairy Doll gives the signal. The dolls come to life, the girls awake, and the dancing begins. Jake and Anna could not have picked a more entertaining piece for the first half. The opening dance served as an introduction to the characters, including Bunny Drummer (Sarina Bennett), the Porcelain Dolls (Amelia Bell, Shanna Black, Barbara Jasiulewicz and Amelia Moore) and the Princess Dolls (Taylor Clydesdale, Amy McCully, and Callie Porter). Next followed variations of different dolls, beginning with a marche of toy soldiers, performed by the youngest junior students, which ended with one of the students being lifted by the others in an overhead lift, something which rightfully won them a big cheer from the audience. Marche of the toy soldiers: the junior students of HPYB as the toy soldiers - Photograph by Khali And Me Photography© The Variations of the Dolls were well staged. The one that got the biggest cheers was that of Polichinelle and Harlequin, danced by Olivia Grimes and Alayna McIlmunn, respectively. The dance featured a lot of jumps, which the girls did well, but Alayna, only 10 or 11 years old, took us all by surprise with fast pirouettes. Surely, a future star in the making. Then there was the Russian Doll, danced elegantly by Fifi Marland-Ross, who has just returned to Belfast after spending a year on a training placement in Australia. Next was the Japanese Doll, danced by Jessica Birnie, and the French Doll, danced by Annabelle Brown. These three students are among the leading junior soloists of High Points Youth Ballet and they each gave a performance showing that they have much potential for the future. Hanna Brzozowska, Grace Camacho McKenna, Lucy-Anna Kelly, Niamh Kennedy, Rosaleen Nancarrow, and Sophia Russel as the Children: Olivia Grimes and Alayna McIlmunn as Polichinelle and Harlequin: Taylor Clydesdale, Amy McCully and Callie Porter as the Princess Dolls and Liam Nugent as the Magician - Photographs by Khali and Me Photography© After the variations, all the dancers gathered for a very entertaining finale, which included a graceful performance from Zara Crawford as the Fairy Doll, and everyone returned to their opening placements for a closing tableau. The Fairy Doll suite was very well put together; Anna, Jake and the students all worked very hard to give a good show and their work paid off. They gave us all a more than charming and entertaining first half for the gala. After the interval, the curtain rose for the second half, The Kingdom of the Shades from the third act of Marius Petipa’s most famous exotic ballet La Bayadère, a challenging, but exciting début for High Points Youth Ballet. Leah McNally as Nikiya, Luc Burns as Solor and the senior students of High Points Youth Ballet as the Shades in The Kingdom of the Shades. Photograph by Khali And Me Photography© One of the most celebrated works in the repertoire, La Bayadère premièred in Saint Petersburg in 1877 and was later staged in a new production in 1900 and remains a dominant member of the repertoire today. The ballet is set in Ancient India and tells a story of love, betrayal, murder, and divine vengeance. The beautiful temple dancer Nikiya and the warrior Solor pledge eternal love to one another, but the Rajah has chosen Solor to be the husband of his daughter Gamzatti. When the Grand Brahmin, whose love Nikiya had rejected, exposes her relationship with Solor, the Rajah and Gamzatti conspire to murder Nikiya and send her a basket of flowers containing a poisonous snake that fatally bites her. In his grief, Solor dreams of Nikiya in a heavenly realm called the Kingdom of the Shades and her shade subsequently haunts him at his wedding to Gamzatti. The angry gods destroy the palace, killing all responsible for Nikiya’s murder, and the shades of Nikiya and Solor are reunited in the afterlife. However, despite its popularity, in recent years, La Bayadère has become a victim of political correctness with some accusing it of promoting Asian stereotypes and cultural appropriation. Some of these people have attempted to “fix” the ballet by presenting “corrected reimaginings,” except it is these “corrected reimaginings” that are problematic because they have failed to fix anything. Instead, they present a picture of hypocrisy, ignorance and whitewashing that introduce more stereotypes, historical inaccuracies, and insult people’s intelligence by appropriating their supposed anger. It was unfortunate to see the programme label The Kingdom of the Shades as “the ballet’s least controversial scene” because despite what some want others to believe, La Bayadère is not controversial at all. To correct that sentence, The Kingdom of the Shades is the ballet’s most famous and most celebrated scene and is often performed as an independent piece in galas. It features a huge corps de ballet of shades (the original number in 1877 was 64) and is set on the starlit mountain peaks of the Himalayas. In this scene, the despondent Solor dreams of his beloved Nikiya in this heavenly kingdom, where she appears among the multiple shades and forgives him for his betrayal. La Bayadère is never performed in Belfast, so this was a welcomed new addition to the High Points Youth Ballet repertoire. Luc Burns as Solor and Leah McNally as Nikiya - Photograph by Khali And Me Photography© The curtain opened on a very well-designed backdrop depicting a mountain range and thus began the famous Entrance of the Shades, with sixteen shades entering in the serpentine pattern of arabesques before forming four lines of four. The Entrance of the Shades was beautifully performed; the students had clearly put all their effort into mastering the challenges of this number. The corps de ballet work for the whole scene was well staged and the students gave a stellar performance. Dancing the Three Solo Shades were Amelia Larmour, Lucy Dunbar, and Kristina Murphy, though the third variation was performed by Annabelle French. The Variations of the Three Shades are three of the most challenging variations, but the three students did very well in handling the technical challenges, especially Amelia, who stood out the most with her handling of the steely pointe work of the first variation. The gala saw the return of guest professional dancer Luc Burns, who danced Solor. A native of Belfast and member of the Varna Opera Ballet in Bulgaria, Luc graced the Belfast stage last year in the HPYB Spring Gala 2024 when he danced Albrecht in the second act of Giselle. He subsequently reprised the role two months later at the Belfast International Ballet Festival, where he also performed in a Swan Lake suite. He brought his accomplished technique and buoyant jumps, which he especially showed in the Grand Coda and Solor’s variation (interpolated from Act 2). The role of Nikiya was danced by senior student Leah McNally. Leah has proven on several occasions to be one of High Points Youth Ballet’s top students and she showed it again in her newest role. This is the second leading role I have seen her dance (the first was Giselle last year) and she gave a truly beautiful, heartfelt performance. Only 18 years old (17 at the time of the performance), she brought such a maturity that defies her young age, and she danced like a professional. She brought good, clean technique, which enabled her to master the difficult steps, but she also made the role completely her own by bringing such a beautiful warmth and honesty to it. This is a quality that says she understands Petipa’s words on technique - “In ballerinas, technique should compliment artistry, not rule it.” Leah and Luc worked well together as partners; Luc strongly partnered Leah, and she responded well to the levels at which he set her. Leah McNally as Nikiya, Luc Burns as Solor and the senior students of HPYB as the Shades. Photograph by Khali And Me Photography© As they have done with other grand pas and scenes/acts, Jake and Anna did a great job in staging The Kingdom of the Shades. It is one of the most difficult scenes to stage, but all their hard work and effort paid off and the students were well taught and coached. The huge round of applause during the curtain calls were more than well deserved. In conclusion, the team at High Points Youth Ballet presented a beautiful and entertaining gala, bringing more of the delights of the classical repertoire to the Belfast stage, a wonderful sign that ballet is growing and growing in the city of Belfast. The Fairy Doll suite and The Kingdom of the Shades will be performed again by HPYB and professional guest artists at the upcoming Belfast International Ballet Festival that will be held on the 1st and 2nd August.
High Points Youth Ballet Company
Belfast International Ballet Festival