David Nixon’s Nutcracker for Northern Ballet at Aylesbury Waterside is one of the best I’ve seen. It has all the components required of this Christmas favourite: the warm atmosphere of a comfortable home, the large loving family and fond friends; loads of children, (Wheathampstead Dance Academy), all likeable except for Clara’s brother Frederic, who according to the libretto is a pain in the backside — well conveyed by Jeremy Curnier.

For the opening party Nixon has created a non-stop flow of formal but light-hearted dances, set in the drawing room of a large Regency house in England. Then the work really takes flight as Clara begins her dream journey through the land of snow and the kingdom of sweets. The costumes, designed by Nixon himself, are wonderful and exotic, especially those for the Snow Maidens, and for the Arabian dance — a mysterious, seductive performance by Hannah Bateman in pleated harem pants that swing with every movement. But, despite such advantages, success of failure of this work depends almost completely on the character of Clara, and Northern Ballet has found a gem in the diminutive, feather-light figure of Pippa Moore.

Clara is young enough still to be delighted when given a doll — the eponymous Nutcracker — but then, in her dream, she experiences her first romantic feelings. All this is clearly conveyed by Moore. At the party she is still a child having fun, until her brother breaks the doll. Then, on her travels, she is able to maintain a continuous sense of wonder and excitement as she watches the Cossacks, the Sugar Plum Fairy and the waltzing flowers.

As she dances with the Nutcracker Prince (handsome Ashley Dixon), we see the dawning of an adult love. This is mainly a tribute to Pippa Moore’s acting skills, but she can really dance too; she floats through Nixon’s lyrical choreography with such lightness and ease that it seems she is improvising — a terrific performance by a dancer who can surely charm the stoniest of hearts.