What’s On announces news of the Moscow City Ballet in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, performing The Nutcracker at Centrepoint Theatre, Ductac, and Emirates Palace.

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It’s tricky to create a feeling of Christmas magic when you live in the UAE – the temperatures might be dropping, but it’s still not exactly a winter wonderland. However, a new show from the Moscow City Ballet might just help you get in the festive mood.

Russia’s most popular touring dance company is coming to the region this December to perform the beloved Christmas ballet ‘The Nutcracker’. With its twinkling, soaring score composed by the legendary Tchaikovsky, it’s the perfect December soundtrack.

Performances will take place in Dubai on December 11 at 4.30pm and 8pm and December 12 and 13 at 3pm and 7.30pm at Ductac Centrepoint Theatre, Mall of the Emirates. It will be in Abu Dhabi on December 15 at 5pm and 8pm, and December 16 at 6pm.

The iconic ballet tells the story of a young girl called Clara, whose godfather Drosselmeyer gives her a toy nutcracker for Christmas. When the clock strikes midnight on Christmas Eve, the toy is transformed into a Prince, and the story becomes a fairy tale featuring toy soldiers, an evil Mouse King and the Sugar Plum Fairy.

The production has a lot of history. The original story was called ‘The Nutcracker and The Mouse King’; it was rewritten by The Three Musketeers author Alexander Dumas, and then adapted for the ballet. It was first performed at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg in 1892. Today, it is the most widely performed ballet in the world.

This will not be the first time the Moscow City Ballet has been to Dubai. In 2012, they wowed audiences with Sleeping Beauty, and in 2013, they celebrated their 25th anniversary year by returning with a production of Cinderella at the Madinat Theatre.

Centrepoint Theatre, Ductac, Mall Of The Emirates, December 11 4.30pm and 8pm, December 12 and 13 at 3pm and 7.30pm, Dhs200. Tel: (04) 3414777. Metro: Mall Of The Emirates. ductac.org