Rudolf Nureyev‘s 1968 staging of the Nutcracker for the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden fundamentally altered the perception of The Nutcracker. Nureyev discarded the simplistic notion of a pure children’s fantasy, instead turning the entire dream sequence into a complex psycho-sexual exploration of Clara’s burgeoning maturity and her subconscious desire for her godfather, Drosselmeyer.
By choreographing the roles of Drosselmeyer and the Prince (the transformed Nutcracker) to be danced by the same person, Nureyev emphasized that the Prince is merely the idealization of the protective, yet unattainable, adult figure in Clara’s life. His choreography, which demanded high technical skill and dramatic intensity, successfully transformed a sugar-coated fairy tale into a ballet of profound emotional and developmental significance, solidifying its place as a cornerstone of modern ballet repertoire.
The Nutcracker – Rudolf Nureyev and Merle Park (1968)
