Act I

48 minutes

Scene 1: A temple fair in Beijing with strong Chinese characteristic

The Chinese New Year is coming soon. People are bustling about purchasing goods for the New Year at the temple fair. Adults greet each other in traditional ways, while children are enjoying themselves in the festive atmosphere. Tuantuan and his cousin Yuanyuan are playing with their little friends. Tuantuan has even bought a mask of Nian, a monster in the fairy tales. The grandfather of Tuantuan and Yuanyuan tells the origin of the festival. 12 children hold 12 masks of animal signs, happily waiting for the eve of Chinese New Year in drifting snow.

Scene 2: A comfortable and harmonious Chinese living room

At the eve of Chinese New Year, a foreign friend comes to the grandfather’s home to celebrate the Spring Festival with the family. The foreign friend gives the lovely Yuanyuan a nutcracker as a New Year gift. Tuantuan gets jealous, since he wants this fantastic gift as well. The grandfather gives a double truncation stick to him, and gives back a gift to the foreign friend together with the grandmother. Children are listening to the foreign friend to tell the function of the nutcracker. The greedy Tuantuan grabs the nutcracker in his hand. Yuanyuan is very upset, and goes extra miles to get her favorite gift back. The New Year dinner is ready and the foreign friend takes a group photo of this harmonic Chinese family.

Scene 3: Yuanyuan’s bedroom

Yuanyuan gets back to her bedroom alone when the night falls. Holding the nutcracker in her arms, she quickly falls into sleep…

Reality fades into the world of dream, while Tuantuan and the monster Nian become one and steals the nutcracker away. Yuanyuan gets up and panics. Suddenly, the nutcracker transforms into a human and jumps out. Groups of monsters Nian are closing in. Together with many little tigers, the nutcracker fights against them.

Scene 4: To the fairy land in the Kingdom of Crane

The fight between two sides is getting hot, when the Crane Queen from the fairy land arrives. She draws out the red gauze on the top of her head. All monsters Nian are intimated by the red color and helplessly fall down. Having witnessed the magic of the Crane Queen, Yuanyuan salutes the queen with gratitude. She asks the queen to change her into a beautiful crane, and fly to the magical Porcelain Kingdom with her beloved nutcracker.

Interval- 20 minutes

Act II

45 minutes

Scene 1: Porcelain Kingdom

Yuanyuan arrives in the magical Porcelain Kingdom. In front of her are all kinds of amazing things: the welcoming happy Fuwas, the dressed up performance by 12 Animal Signs, the sweet and funny Crystalline Candied Haws, the elegant and graceful dance of Fans, not to mention the dance of Silk, dance of Kite, dance of Spinning Top, and dance of Gold Ingot. It is a big celebration full of Chinese elements.

Scene 2: The New Year celebration

The entrance of the cloisonné justifies the name of Porcelain Kingdom. Yuanyuan is slowly lifted by the little Firecracker boys. Out of a sudden, all the characters in the dream fade out. Yuanyuan is waken up by Tuantuan. Back to reality, Yuanyuan still holds the nutcracker tightly in her hands, afraid that Tuantuan may take it away again. The bell for the New Year is about to ring. Realizing that it was all just a dream, she feels sorry and gives the nutcracker to Tuantuan. Firecrackers begin to salvo in the sky. Everybody enjoys the happiness brought by the joy of New Year, as the celebration climbs to its highlight. A little embarrassed, Tuantuan gives the nutcracker back to Yuanyuan. The whole family joyfully welcomes another beautiful year!

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National Ballet of China was founded in December of 1959. All of National Ballet of China's outstanding artists come from professional academies. During decades of care and support from the government and friends from all social sectors, the company has never ceased enriching its solid Russian foundations with works of different schools and styles. The company's repertoire includes classics like Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Giselle, Carmen, The Nutcracker (Chinese version). By both performing Western ballets and creating works of its own with distinct national characteristics, the company has found a successful path for the development of Chinese ballet.

General Planner, Producers: Feng Ying and Zhao Ruheng

Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Choreography and direction by Zhao Ming (Guest)

Choreography by Wang Yuanyuan (Guest) and Feng Ying

Choreography in certain sections by Wang Qi, Wang Sizheng and Zhang Yixiang

Vision Adviser: Zeng Li (Guest)

Set Design by Gong Xun

Lighting Design by Han Jiang

Costume Design by Li Ruiding (Guest)

Literature Consultant: Ouyang Yibing (Guest)

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