16-31 Dec 2006. In The Nutcracker, choreography by Rudolf Nureyev. Nureyev created The Nutcracker for the Royal Swedish Ballet in 1967and revised it the following year for the Royal Ballet. This was a drastic transformation. The ballet, originally mounted in St Petersburg in 1892, had been planned by Petipa but choreographed by Ivanov not very successfully, it seems, as the original dances have practically all disappeared. It had however, established itself as an international favourite, with an innocent charm which made it suitable for Christmas outings a tinselly entertainment to be viewed indulgently. Nureyev changed the whole tone by taking the subject and more specifically the score, which contains some of Tchaikovskys finest theatre music, seriously. Nureyev wove a psychological twist into the story that instead of an adults view of nursery fun became a half-nightmare of family tensions as seen through the eyes of the child a device that made the central roles into formidable parts for the ballerina and her prince.