THE NUTCRACKER is Now Playing at Den Norske Opera

The Nutcracker is now playing at Den Norske Opera. Performances run 29 November–​21 December. The Nutcracker is back on the Main Stage, ready to make the advent season magical for young and old alike!

We travel more than a hundred years back in time to a winter in Christiania. Neither child nor adult, Clara feels left out at her family’s big Christmas celebration. The mysterious doll maker Drosselmeyer gives her a nutcracker doll made of wood – and when Clara falls asleep, the nutcracker turns into a real prince! 

But it is not only the doll that undergoes a metamorphosis: The guests become rats and mice, and all of the Christmas gifts come to life and start dancing around – controlled by Drosselmeyer. In an overgrown and slightly spooky universe, the prince and Clara fight against the animals, led by the Rat King himself. 

Every year, The Nutcracker is danced in ballet houses across much of the world. The story is based on E.T.A. Hoffmann’s fairytale novella The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. In our production, the story takes place in Christiania in 1905, where Clara’s diplomat family is entertaining guests from many countries. 

The Norwegian National Ballet dancers share the stage with students of the National Ballet School, all of whom interpret a multitude of roles, from the prince, young and older Clara to rats and waffles with cream. 

And when the curtain rises to the tunes of Tchaikovsky, there is someone in the audience who is seeing the ballet for the very first time. 

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