Act I of Ballet Ireland's Nutcracker in the National Concert Hall on Saturday went splendidly. Violetta Sydorenko was a beautiful and touching Clara, with more dancing than usual; Killian O'Callaghan, formerly with the Irish Ballet Company, made a welcome return as her father; and if Gunter Falusy's choreography for the Mechanical Doll was not very mechanical, Kathryn Alcock's performance was fine.

The Christmas Party, Mice and Soldiers and Snowflakes scenes were well danced, the company deserving great praise for changing scenery in the Concert Hall, with no overhead lines for hanging cloths. Even the Christmas Tree grew, reducing Clara to the height of the mice and tin soldiers, despite a technical hitch. Durell Hammond was excellent as the Nutcracker, both as wooden toy and dashing Prince, whose partnering of Sydorenko promised well for Act II, but then everything went wrong, for we never saw the Prince again.

Uncle Drosselmayer (Falusy) escorted Clara to the Land of Sweets in his place, Hammond instead partnering the wonderful Paula Cabral in the delightful Arab Dance, The national dances were all good, and Shinobu Sakaguchi was perfect in the Sugar Plum Fairy solo, but the point of the story was lost since, when Clara wakes with the toy Nutcracker in her arms, he has not been part of her adventures. And though Sydorenko as Clara danced well to the music of the Prince's variations, the Act II Pas de Deux is too well-known to drop, often danced alone as a highlight and the climax of the ballet. A case of Hamlet without the Prince?

Programme repeated in Cookstown today, Tallaght (tomorrow), Cork, Athlone, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Limerick and Blanchardstown.