Varna International Ballet and Orchestra visit the UK for the first time in their 75-year history with classical performances of The Nutcracker at Bridgewater Hall in Manchester January 2–3 and Liverpool Empire Theatre January 23–25.
Varna State Opera was founded in 1947 by Bulgarian tenor Peter Raycheff. Credit for the development of the ballet troupe goes to Galina and Stefan Yordanov, artistic directors and choreographers from 1960–1985.
Nutcracker begins as night falls on Christmas Eve and reveals a fairy-tale world where nothing is quite as it seems.