Here, Drosselmeyer maintains all of the magic with none of the ambiguity. In the performance I attended, he is played with cheerful wisdom by soloist Kenta Hara, a perfect complement to the lead dancers, first soloists Risako Ikeda as  Clara/ the Sugar Plum Fairy and Shunsuke Mizui as Drosselmeyer’s Nephew/ the Nutcracker Prince. There’s a fantastical element in the meet-cute between Clara and the Nephew that incites Tuckett’s plot through-line beautifully.  

In Act One Drosslemeyer is Clara’s beloved Godfather, bringer of handcrafted gifts and magician-like entertainment to the Stahlbaum Christmas party. Later, he’s Clara’s wise guide, resurrecting the injured Nutcracker in a gorgeous instant of stagecraft, before guiding her into a winter wonderland. In Act Two, in a feminist twist, Clara is crowned the Sugarplum Fairy for defeating the Rat Queen and saving her Nutcracker Prince. Drosselmeyer’s care of Clara after the confectionery fun brings the story full circle. The resolution resonates not so much as a dream, but as a final, imaginative Christmas gift for a beloved and bold goddaughter.

Tuckett’s tweaks from Lev Ivanov’s original choreography are also impressive. In Act One, they are subtle, like the Dancing Mistress (Yuna Seki) leading a charmingly executed children’s dance, or the synchronized, fluid elegance of the waltzing Christmas guests. Bursting out of a vintage Victorian booth theatre, the staccato automaton pas de deux (Kasumi Okuda as the Columbine Doll and Kazuki Sano as the Harlequin Doll) is another delight, rapid steps and quick pirouettes offset by gliding lifts.  The Rat Queen (another fun twist) sees Seki morphing from the taskmaster Dance Mistress to the villain in a teeming, chaotic dance battle that’s utterly captivating.