Moscow Ballet's Great Russian Nutcracker Reviews

Stacey from Vancouver, British Columbia

BETTER THEN LAST YEAR

We go every year as part of our ‘holyday spirit’ tradition. We’ve seen the nutcracker performed in many countries, so we’re pretty spoiled. This year in Vancouver, the nutcracker did not fail to capture the overall spirit of the holidays, but still lacked the ‘wow’ factor (apart from the Arabian dance - which is amazing!) It would truly make all the difference to use an orchestra instead of downloaded music over the speakers. Also- if you’re sitting in the mezzanine, row 30, seat 25 at Q E Theatre, be prepared to listen to some awesome radio chat between security in the back room. Thanks guys.

Lucy from Vancouver, British Columbia

WAS LACKING

I’ve seen a few ballets in my time and I was quite disappointed to not have a live orchestra, children who weren’t ready to dance on stage, and excellent dancers mixed in with mediocre performances by some. I honestly expected it to be of a much higher calibre and the cost for this ticket was overpriced given what was delivered. There were clear mistakes made, timing off with dancers, and the choreography, which was excellent at times, seemed to lack imagination at times - the child dancers - especially the very young ones - were a distraction and took away from me enjoying the performers. No standing ovations, for good reason. I honestly thought this ballet company would have it together. Never buying a ticket for them again, was a waste of money unfortunately.

Martha from Chicago, Illinois

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY

This performance (12/8/19 in Rosemont, IL) was extremely disappointing. These were not cheap tickets - I expected more from this company, and I regret purchasing. It was very clear that the performance/set is geared towards adults who don't particularly care about ballet or classical music bringing their kids who won't know the difference. 1. NO LIVE ORCHESTRA?!?! I don't expect an orchestra for a small kids production that costs $20/ticket, but for a professional performance this was a huge shock and disappointment. 2. Level of professionalism and technique of the dancers was uninspiring and lowerthan expected. I was fairly bored most of the time to be honest - only the arabian dancers were impressive to me (that dance is a very small portion of the show...) So combination of choreography and technique issues overall. 3. The set left much to be desired. Very clear that this is a traveling show with little but screens and bright costumes.

Katia from Los Angeles, California

WAS A DISAPPOINTMENT

Expected something magical, but disappointment started by entering the theater , which has no seats, instead they are folding chairs, considering how much they are charging per ticket, it’s a scam.. Second disappointment, no live orchestra, music is a recording ... and overall there was a lots of noise that didn’t allow audience to concentrate, they should really disallow food, everyone was eating chips,etc... at some point someone’s mic backstage could be heard... Performances were soo shabby, little local children didn’t belong on a big stage, since were absolutely not trained in ballet... Sugar Plum fairy performance, which usually is one of the highlights, was mediocre at the best .. acrobatic Arabian dancers got the most applause... don’t go, waste your time and money, I even doubt the cast is original.

David from Indianapolis, Indiana

VERY DISAPPOINTING

I was extremely disappointed to not have a live orchestra, children with elementary level dancing talents along with professional and semi-professional dancers. I honestly expected it to be of a much higher calibre and the cost for this ticket was overpriced given what was delivered. There were clear mistakes made, timing off with dancers, and the choreography, which was excellent at times, seemed to lack imagination at times - the child dancers - especially the inexperienced children - were a distraction and took away from me enjoying the performers. The only standing ovations were from the families that had children that should have never been performing on a stage of this caliber. I will never purchase a ticket for Moscow Ballet again, it was a waste of money unfortunately.

Christine CATALINE from Minneapolis, Minnesota

DISAPPOINTING PERFORMANCE

12/3/22, the children in the ballet were better rehearsed and more in sync with one another than the professional Corps de ballet. The Corps de ballet is the worst I've seen: flailing arms and legs; out of sync and shockingly sloppy. I expected a higher caliber of dance from the Moscow Ballet. The choreography was dull and uninteresting, even with the solo dancers. There was some life and complexity from a male dancer, but overall the choreography was limited to a few steps and movements that were consistently repeated. The costumes were A+. Seeing the different interpretation of The Nutcracker from American versions was interesting, and that is the only point on which I'd recommend Moscow's Nutcracker. The Arabian Variation, however, was a crowd pleaser.

Denny144 from Detroit, Michigan

SHOCKINGLY MEDIOCRE

There were several standouts but the performances overall were mediocre. They didn’t seem to be giving it their best effort. The couples dance routines were out of sync. More than one male performer failed to nail their landing after a jump. What a disappointment. We won’t be doing this again.

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