The Nutcracker, at Royal Opera House, review Matthew Bourne is justly credited with making dance more accessible to a mass market, but sometimes it's simply a question of low ticket prices and a big smile. The Royal Ballet began its Christmas run of The Nutcracker at Covent Garden with an activity-packed Saturday and an audience of first-timers composed exclusively of tabloid newspaper readers (a long-running initiative from the marvellous Helen Hamlyn Trust). Any Nutcracker will guarantee a jolly, festive atmosphere, but it was a real pleasure to see the Opera House looking so at ease with itself. Gary Avis's Drosselmeyer spun the plot with wit and verve, Ricardo Cervera danced and mimed the toymaker's enchanted nephew with sunny precision, and Melissa Hamilton was full of eastern promise in the Arabian dance. Steven McRae once again stole the show, though, with his thrilling Sugar Plum Prince. Every landing was in fifth position and every step in sync with Tchaikovsky, thanks to Koen Kessels (on loan from Birmingham) and an orchestra (very much alive) on terrific form. Cue smiling faces, ecstatic applause and the merry crash of barriers breaking down. To Jan 16; www.roh.org.uk