Moscow’s Ballet Great Russian Nutcracker Show

As a musician from the New York City area and a ballet enthusiast, I am so disappointed in Moscow Ballet’s production of the Nutcracker.
I paid a substantial amount of money for my family to experience sub-​par ballet, prerecorded music and less than impressive sets.
It is an absolute waste of money and a terrible production.
UPDATE: I emailed Moscow Ballet about my experience and they never responded. Horrible organization. Don’t even bother.

No live orchestra. They play Tchaikovsky on CD over a loud speaker. The music is half the point of the ballet and it was flat and dimensionless.
The ballet itself, this is a pick up troupe of primarily Russian dancers. It’s obvious that they haven’t worked or practiced much together, the timing and synchronization of the corps is very off. The two principal dancers were quite good though, basically the saving grace.
Overall, it would be a decent introduction for children. But for the money (over $ 100/​ticket) take them to a real ballet with a real orchestra.

This is for the local studio children to be in, but the ticket price is like a professional performance. The set was the biggest letdown. The drape changes, that’s how it goes from scene to scene. The second act was totally different and not in a good way. All the countries danced together a lot, there was not distinct Transitions between the lands that helps aid the storyline. Oh, and at the end they give ya the old switcheroo. The real masha/​Clara just piqued off stage left and they swoop in a different waking one with her nutcracker. Like we don’t know that’s not the same dancer.

Very disappointed… I trained in ballet for 15 years and have always dreamed of watching the Moscow Ballet perform. But seriously this company was terrible and not at all what I would call professional. My studio’s performance of the Nutcracker was way better than this.
The set design was lacking… basically 3 backdrops and no real props. Costumes did look lovely. The choreography was mediocre and unimaginative. No great turns, jumps/​leaps or lifts. Dancers lacked synchronicity.
Oh and where was the sugar plum fairy??? My favorite piece of music (dance of the sugar plum fairy) in the Nutcracker was danced by «Macha» not the sugar plum, what the heck!
Wouldn’t recommend this unless it’s your first time to the ballet and you don’t care for the technique of the dancers. I heard Colorado Ballet’s is better so maybe next year…

Horrible. It was like everyone was dancing for the first time. There were none of the big jumps, no synchronicity between dancers, and the set design lacked all the magic of the nutcracker.

Last year I saw the Colorado Ballet’s Nutcracker. This year I went to the Russian Moscow Nutcracker at the Paramount. I love the Paramount venue and since it’s a smaller venue you are close to the performance. The set is not as elaborate as the Colorado ballet’s version, however the dancers are so talented. I can’t say which one I liked the most because they are both really good. I enjoyed the show and loved the little kid ballerina’s. The show had humorous elements with the costumed bulls, unicorn, and bears. What really stood out are the talents of the ballet company. I was impressed by the jumps and dancing. I enjoyed the second act the most as they have dances from all different regions– arabian, spanish, french and chinese. This is show that comes to the Paramount every December for a limited time– and I enjoyed going. The famous Nutcracker is a fun family event to do every year. I suggest seeing both the Russian and Colorado versions. I would go again.