The Nutcracker

It's a technically brilliant dance performance and in this dream of Clara, a child who falls asleep after a party clutching a nutcracker toy soldier into her arms, the rats who intrude in nightmarish fashion display a fearsome skill.

An intrusive menace in the girl's subconscious as she merges from childhood to womanhood, cute they are not.

Daria Klimentova as the adult Clara and James Forbat as Nutcracker typify the assured and thrilling timing of the dancers as they glide through a series of grandes jetees and pas de deux.

Fabian Reimar as Drosselmeyer, the magical master of Clara's journey from girl to adult, allures and James Streeter as Mouse King gives a brilliantly threatening performance as the creep that nightmares are made of.

The corps de ballet make their mark with a highly impressive Waltz Of The Flowers but it is Ksenia Ovsyanick who grabs the attention as Butterfly and there's sterling work from the school children involved.

This triumph is choreographed by Wayne Eagling and introduces Vadim Muntagirov as the company's new principal dancer.

It also marks Tamara Rojo's first season as the new ENB artistic director since leaving the Royal Ballet, where she was a revered principal dancer. It's an auspicious start.