Carlos Acosta’s The Nutcracker leaps in to the Storyhouse

Dance superstar Carlos Acosta’s new production Nutcracker in Havana leaps on to the Storyhouse stage next month.

The special new adaptation of the perennial festive favourite transports Tchaikovsky’s classic to the Cuban capital in a celebration of joy, life, love and family.

It comes to Storyhouse on Saturday, 24 and Sunday, 25 January 2026. Tickets are on sale now priced from just £21.15 for Storyhouse Members.

Featuring more than 20 dancers from his Havana-based company Acosta Danza, the production takes the classic story of young Clara’s journey through a magical world of toys and sweets, blended with the culture, history and music of Acosta’s home country Cuba.

As a globally recognised dance legend who has performed with companies across the world – including 17 years with the Royal Ballet – Acosta knew this was the right time for The Nutcracker to be reinvented for both traditional and new audiences.

He says: “I have performed so many versions of The Nutcracker, and I think that putting it in Havana creates a production which is totally different from any other out there. This is not going to be a European feel where you are in a Victorian mansion, and everything is period. This is much more Cuba now.”

The ballet also features new orchestration of Tchaikovsky’s score by Cuban composer Pepe Gavilondo.

Acosta explains: “When we began to work on the show, I started to play in my mind that we could re-work the score to incorporate Cuban rhythms. That was going to be a significant change, because the audience will hear Nutcracker and Tchaikovsky in a completely different light with conga rhythms, guaracha, son – the music of Cuba.”

A co-production between Norwich Theatre and Acosta Danza’s production partner Valid Productions, the show is the perfect gateway into both the world of ballet and the wider dance stage.

Acosta adds: “The show has been created to tour beyond just the largest theatres to audiences in places that don’t normally get the benefit of having a Nutcracker. I hope everyone will come and that this production pulls from different sectors of the population – from the Latin world, the classical world, the contemporary world – because it’s a melting pot of everything.

“There’s a lot of humour as well. It’s different, but it still does what The Nutcracker is supposed to do, which is fun and warm; it’s just a show about family and friends.”

Carlos Acosta’s Nutcracker In Havana plays at Storyhouse Chester Saturday, 24 January – Sunday, 25 January 2026. Tickets are available here.