Nutcracker, at the Palace Theatre, Manchester

TCHAIKOVSKY's delightful tale of the dolls that came to life was delivered superbly by the Chisinau National Ballet.

Yuri Grigorovich, former director with the world renowned Bolshoi Ballet, choreographed the classic children's fairytale and gave it enchanting and entertaining interpretation.

Nadejda Cotet as Marie was graceful and precise in performing perfect pirouettes, which earned her richly deserved thunderous applause.

The Nutcracker Prince, Egor Scepaciov, was equally talented especially when he joined with the toy soldiers to fight the king mouse and other mice, who I must say reminded me of Roland Rat and friends!

The harlequin and columbine dolls were superbly wooden in their movements -- perfect -- and the Indian dolls performed a very intricate and complicated dance routine with perfect timing and poise.

The point work was faultless and quite amazing as the dancers walked from one end of the stage to the other on tiptoes.

Gasps could be heard from the audience as the magical image of the boat travelling to the land of Christmas trees appeared hanging from the roof and throughout the performance there was gentle humour.

The orchestra was superb and it was nice to recognise so many of the classics -- it's amazing how advertising has breathed new life into music written in the 19th century.

CATHERINE SMYTH