‘The Nutcracker and I’ brings dreams to Dubai Opera

Think about a dream set to music, for this is what ‘The Nutcracker and I’, which plays out at the Dubai Opera on December 12, promises.

Pianist Alexandra Dariescu, whose brainchild the show is, says the story offers an imperative life lesson. “The whole concept is to inspire the younger generation and to tell the truth, which is if you dare to dream you can become whoever you want to become,” she explains in an interview with Gulf News tabloid!

I’s a hard-won understanding. When she first had the idea for the show, which melds a concert with live ballet and “very, very cool technology”, she says, she didn’t know if she could pull it off.

‘The Nutcracker and I’ focuses on Dariescu on a grand piano, but then she is joined by a ballerina behind a see-through gauze screen that also projects animated dancers. And if this were not challenging enough, it’s a well-known Christmas favourite by a Tchaikovsky that’s on offer — one wrong move and the whole production could crumble. “It was the most challenging process of my life, but it’s so fulfilling as well. Before the premiere which happened at the London at Barbican’s Milton Court [last year] we had some days of rehearsals basically day and night and it was important to have those together,” she says.

A year on, with tours under her belt, the confidence has returned.

This journey into a dream sphere sees the Mouse King and toy soldier battle for survival. And along the way there are beloved numbers such as Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, Arabian Dance and the Flower Waltz.

See the Nutcracker with a difference — it promises to be a dream.

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Don’t miss it!

Tickets to ‘The Nutcracker and I’ at Dubai Opera on December 12 at 6pm and 8pm start at Dh250.