The secret of “The Nutcracker” ballet outstanding popularity may be explained by the amazing combination of beautiful fairy tale with tragedy and psychologism expressed in this stage play. The huge mice, who are threatening the happiness of loving couple at first, turn out to be their best friends then, in contrast with people who slowly but surely lead the main heroine to inconspicuous and terrible death.
Read: New Podil Theatre in Kyiv
“The Nutcracker” ballet directed by Radu Poklitaru was presented to the audience for the first time on December 30, 2007. In that year, the performance was awarded with “Kyiv Pectoral” professional theater prize in “The Event of the Year” nomination.

“Grown-ups imagine inner world of children as a worry-free space of fantasies and games. Dear viewers, I do not know about you, but as for me, I can remember clearly how often in my childhood I swore that I would never forget how it is to be a child. Unfortunately, I did not manage to do that… The loss of this knowledge is one of the greatest losses in our lives. Maybe, it is predetermined by the human nature, by the characteristics of human memory? But after reading “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” fairy tale by E.T.A. Hoffmann, I was deeply impressed how precisely, piercingly and sometimes even ruthlessly the great romantic analyzes the movements of a child`s soul. His research (made long before Freud) puts off the veil of idealization from child`s psychology and allows to look much deeper into the eyes of miracle called childhood.

However, our “The Nutcracker” is primarily a fairy tale. A fairy tale about small Mary dreaming about happiness and love; about these dreams, that let her get inside the house of counsellor Stalbaum in a magical way; about counsellor Stalbaum and his wife, turned into Mouse King and Queen by Drosselmeier; about Drosselmeier, who presented Mary an amazing doll, somehow looking like him; about this doll (we call it The Nutcracker), that became the first true love of Mary. And the main thing is that everything in this story turns out to be not what it seems at the first sight”.
© Radu Poklitaru
“The Nutcracker” production team:
Libretto, choreography and direction – Radu Poklitaru
Scenography – honored artist of Ukraine Andriy Zlobin
Costume designer – Anna Ipatieva
Choreographer`s assistant – honored artist of Ukraine Anatoliy Kozlov
Lighting designer – Elena Antokhina
Sound producer – Alexander Kuriy
Read: Opera House in Kyiv
The schedule of performances:
December 4 – Sumy, M. Shchepkin Theatre
December 10 – Kyiv, October Palace
December 12 – Odesa, Opera House
January 9 – Odesa, Opera House
January 11 – Lviv, Opera House
January 13 – Kyiv, October Palace
January 14 - Poltava, Hohol Theater
January 21 – Vinnytsia, N. Sadovsky Theater
January 22 – Chernivtsi, O. Kobylianska Theater
January 27 – Chernihiv, T. Shevchenko Theater
January 29 – Kharkiv, Opera House
January 31 – Zaporizhia, V. Magara Theater
February 2 – Kam`yanske, Lesya Ukrayinka Theater
Performances start at 7:00 p.m.