The most beautiful Christmas ballets

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. 

   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. 

   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. 

   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. 

   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. 

   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

7. 

   6. Edward Scissorhands at Sadler's Wells

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

8. 

   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

9. 

   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

10. 

    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

11. 

    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

13. 

    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

14. 

    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

15. 

    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’.

16. 

    14. The Snowman

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

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