Favourite ballets The Nutcracker and Swan Lake are heading for Derbyshire theatre

Varna Ballet and Orchestra will present The Nutcracker on January 7 and Swan Lake on January 8 at Buxton Opera House.

Families who want to prolong the festive feelgood factor should check out The Nutcracker, the most famous of fantasy ballets. The Nutcracker begins as night falls on Christmas Eve. When midnight strikes, toy dolls spring to life, the Mouse-king and his mouse army battle with the Nutcracker Prince and the audience is whisked away on a journey through the Land of Snow to an enchanted place where the magic really begins.

Swan Lake is regarded as greatest romantic ballet of all time. From the impressive splendour of the palace ballroom to the moonlit lake where swans glide in perfect formation, this compelling tale of tragic romance has it all. From Odile, the temptress in black tulle as she seduces the Prince by spinning with captivating precision to the spellbound purity of the swan queen, Odette as she flutters with emotional intensity, the dual role of Odette/Odile is one of ballet’s most unmissable technical challenges. Varna’s presentation of Swan Lake will be a recreation of Tchaikovsky’s original production, that was created for the Bolshoi Ballet in 1877.

British dancer Luc Burns will perform alongside soloists from Italy, France and Spain.

Artistic director Daniela Dimova and music director Peter Tuleshkov from Varna International Ballet and Orchestra said: ‘We are thrilled to be bringing our highly talented company of dancers and musicians back to the UK. We can’t wait to perform for British audiences again and to bring these magical ballets to life on stage.”

Varna State Opera was founded in 1947 by the renowned Bulgarian tenor Peter Raycheff. The main credit for the development of the ballet troupe goes to Galina and Stefan Yordanov who were artistic directors and choreographers for more than 25 years (1960-1985). They formed the image of the Varna Ballet and brought it to the international stage and founded the first and now world-famous Varna International Ballet Competition in 1964.