[Reviewed on 7 December, 2016. This article was originally written for and published on the Straits Times (print and web edition).] The Nutcracker has been considered one of ballet’s most beloved yet most controversial pieces. Russian audiences in the 1800s might have found it acceptable, but in a globalised, culturally aware age, its Eurocentric fetishisation of Eastern cultures has raised eyebrows. Some artistic directors have tried to argue that the ballet’s play on stereotypes is “traditional”, not “racist”. But in…
