The English National Ballet offers shows for the whole family that welcome children under 5 years of age. I took my 2 year old daughter to see The Nutcracker as part of the English National Ballet Christmas season. The English National Ballet has presented The Nutcracker as part of its Christmas season every year since 1950.
The English National Ballet Performances for the whole family
The English National Ballet offers a family show for each ballet performed during the Christmas season. Family performances are held on a weekday afternoon. A free buggy park is available and many staff members are available to help young families.
How long does the performance last?
Each ballet is a different length, but The Nutcracker is well suited to young families, lasting about 2 hours with a 25-minute interval (quite short for a ballet performance).
About the Nutcracker by the English National Ballet
The English National Ballet presents a very colorful version of the ETA Hoffman story that makes it great for kids. When I saw the show, the sets and costumes were by Gerald Scarfe and the choreography was by Christopher Hampson.
This eccentric retelling of the classic Christmas ballet included snowflakes dancing on a giant refrigerator, a sword fight between evil mice in the dead of night, and an origami bird to take the heroine, Clara, to the Candy Kingdom.
The Nutcracker Family Performance Assessment
The family sitting next to me and my daughter told me that they came every year for this performance and I could see from the fact that almost every seat was taken that it was an extremely popular event.
The grandmother on the other side of me told me that I would be surprised how quiet the children were during the ballet and that she was right, it was extraordinary.
For the first act, I think all the children were captivated by the funny antics on stage. I told my daughter the basic story: Christmas party, Clara gets a nutcracker doll, brother breaks it, Drosselmeyer repairs it, children go to bed, Clara gets up, doll comes to life, fights with mice, Nutcracker He is hurt Clara kisses him, all good. To the land of snow with many dancing snowflakes in a giant fridge. You know, the usual.
My daughter sat on my lap for act I and told me about what she saw on stage. Even without words, it seemed that all the children were quite capable of following the story. And even at age two, my daughter was totally wowed by acting, especially during the house party, as she (and I) love familiar characters.
Act II involves Sugar Plum Fairy and her Prince, in addition to entertaining many characters in the Candy Kingdom before the Grand Final. My daughter wasn’t that eager to sit still during this act, but she wanted to dance like the Sugar Plum Fairy and spent most of the second act circling in front of her chair.
The only downside was the ending when my daughter was most upset that she had to finish. He was having too much fun!
Suggestion for family outings
Once you’ve booked your tickets for an English National Ballet family performance, why not enjoy the whole day in central London? You could spend the morning exploring the National Gallery on a family trail or using an audio guide. I would also recommend using the ArtStart touchscreen system to plan your own tour. There are many thematic suggestions to focus on, such as monsters and exotic animals.
Lunch can be in the National Dining Rooms at the National Gallery or across the street at the Cafe in the Crypt on St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Both places welcome families.
After lunch, arrive at the London Colosseum before 2pm for a 2.30pm presentation. It can get a bit busy with the arrival of young families, so it’s best to give yourself plenty of time.
Enjoy the ballet show, then go to Trafalgar Square to see the illuminated Christmas tree and listen to the carol singers.
You could stay for dinner at Gaby’s Deli or come home and collapse. It has been a long day!
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