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    The most beautiful Christmas ballets

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    It’s the time of year when the country’s best ballet companies bring out their top productions – from The Sleeping Beauty to The Nutcracker. We’ve brought together some of the best moments from our favourite Christmas ballets taking place this winter…

    1. Tchaikovsky Nutcracker Bolshoi ballet

      1. The Nutcracker

      Ballet doesn’t get more festive than this: Tchaikovsky’s ballet opens on Christmas Eve, when the young protagonist, Clara, is given a nutcracker as a gift… Pictured: Boshoi Ballet. Photo: Damir Yusupov

    2. Steven McRae and Roberta Marquez Nutcracker

      2. The Nutcracker's Sugar Plum Fairy

      At midnight the toys come to life and the nutcracker prince whisks Clara to the land of the sweets – where she meets the Sugar Plum Fairy, here danced by Roberta Marquez (with Steven McRae) of The Royal Ballet. Photo: Bill Cooper courtesy of ROH

    3. Sleeping Beauty

      3. The Sleeping Beauty

      Tchaikovsky’s enchanting re-telling of the classic fairy tale may not be set at Christmas, but the happy-ever-after and cast of fairy-tale characters ticks that feel-good box. Pictured: The Bolshoi Ballet. Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP/Getty Images

    4. Sleeping Beauty Princess Aurora

      4. Sleeping Beauty by the Bolshoi

      The enchanting story of the princess who falls asleep for 100 years is the perfect ballet for Christmas.

    5. Edward Scissorhands

      5. Edward Scissorhands

      Tim Burton’s modern fable about an otherworldly man with scissors for hands has been re-imagined by the visionary choreographer Matthew Bourne. Photo: Johan Persson

    6. Edward Scissorhands

      6. Edward Scissorhands at Sadler's Wells

      Liam Mower as Edward Scissorhands in Matthew Bourne's ballet. Photo: Johan Persson

    7. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

      7. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

      A new arrival to the festive ballet scene, The Royal Ballet’s production of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is as imaginative and witty as you’d expect from choreographer Christopher Wheeldon. Photo: Johan Persson

    8. Christmas ballets

      8. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland – The Queen of Hearts

      Zenaida Yanowsky as the Queen of Hearts in The Royal Ballet's 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'. Photo: Johan Persson

    9. Wind in the Willows

      9. The Wind in the Willows

      Choreographer Will Tuckett’s charming adaptation of this children’s classic has become a Christmas mainstay. Photo: Johan Persson

    10. Wind in the Willows

      10. Wind in the Willows – with Alan Titchmarsh

      And in the current production Classic FM’s very own Alan Titchmarsh is narrating! Photo: Johan Persson

    11. The Little Match Girl

      11. The Little Match Girl

      Another Christmas weepy, Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘The Little Match Girl’ has been made into a beautiful Christmas ballet by choreographer Arthur Pita. Photo: Phil Conrad

    12. Christmas ballets The Little Match Girl

      12. The Little Match Girl

      A moving story of a little girl's hopes and dreams – and it all takes place on Christmas Eve. Photo: Phil Conrad

    13. Christmas ballets

      13. The Snowman

      Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without The Snowman – and this ballet version of Raymond Briggs’s charming story ticks all the Christmas boxes. The score, by Howard Blake, includes the classic ‘Walking in the Air’.

    14. The Snowman at Sadler's Wells

      14. The Snowman

      Nothing says Christmas more than Raymond Briggs's 'The Snowman' brought to life on stage. Festive bliss.

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