Casse-Noisette Compagnie

- Nutcracker Company -

Casse-Noisette Compagnie is a reflection of Jean-Christophe Maillot’s own personal experience. The Choreographer-Director of the Ballets de Monte-Carlo moved to Monaco in 1993. His encounter with H.R.H. the Princess of Hanover allowed him to create a world in which anything is possible, and where dance allows for the most ambitious of challenges to be taken on.

His ballet transposes the story of the Nutcracker in a classical dance company universe: the Stahlbaum family is still there with Clara (and her dollhouse), Fritz (and his tantrums) but, here, the German house has become the studio of a ballet company run by the parents. In the original story, Uncle Drosselmeyer, invited for Christmas Eve, offers Clara a nutcracker. Here, the uncle becomes the Fairy Drosselmeyer who brings the Company and its dancers a most unexpected gift: a new choreographer! This leads to contests and combats, an evocation of the battle of toys.

Obviously, there is also the appearance of the Prince, the fantastic winter journey amid snowflakes and the arrival in the magic land of Confiturembourg with a series of festivities. All these elements are revisited through the ballet company’s productions. And what delicacies could the Ballets de Monte-Carlo’s choreographer and his dancers have devised? Conceiving and performing ballets like Cinderella, La Belle, Le Songe, Romeo and Juliet, etc.

« It is after all nowt but a dream, a phantasmagoria that drags you irretrievably from sense and sensibility to a world where anything goes. » DANCE EUROPE (jan 2016)

« Tchaikovsky's spiritual pages flick by in this Nutcracker Compagnie featuring a number of those who have left their mark on the history of the Ballets de Monte-Carlo - and this festive piece should be appreciated as a roman à clef. » LE NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR (dec. 2013)

« A Nutcracker Compagnie worthy of the name, magnified by the troupe's history. » LA TERRASSE (nov. 2013)

Choreography: Jean-Christophe Maillot
Music: Piotr Ilitch Tchaïkovski
Scenography: Alain Lagarde
Costumes: Philippe Guillotel
Lighting: Dominique Drillot
Additional music: Bertrand Maillot
Dramaturgy Consultant: Jean Rouaud
Duration: 1h40, ballet in 2 acts

With the participation of the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Nicolas Brochot

Premiere held on December 26th 2013, Grimaldi Forum, in Monaco
For the Jean-Christophe Maillot’s 20th anniversary, at the head of Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo