A Mad Hatter world

What a difference a venue makes. Last Christmas when the Coliseum was knee deep in builder's dust for its much needed refurbishment, English National Ballet was bundled off to the none too-salubrious Hammersmith Carling Apollo, and while you would queue to see AC/DC there, it's not where you want to watch ballet.

This year, with the Coliseum thoroughly washed and brushed up, ENB returned to its London home and looked like a troupe made new. Something about the fresh paint and, if we're honest, the postcode, seemed to inspire the dancers, who were dancing their socks off in The Nutcracker.

Now in its third season, the Christmas kiddie-pleaser is the work of young British choreographer Christopher Hampson and acid-penned satirist Gerald Scarfe. It is, as you'd expect from the man who animated Pink Floyd's The Wall, a vivid, exaggerated, Mad Hatter world with wacky costumes and more sauce than a Heinz factory. There are also some fun ideas, such as the snowflakes and icicles leaping from a giant fridge, and brilliant national dances, including Yat-Sen Chang as the Russian bear.

Some say Scarfe's production is kitsch and vulgar, and some rightly think the design tail is wagging the ballet dog. The justification goes that this is a modern-day production for modern-day eyes, for those more at home in front of the telly than at the Opera House.

The flaw in this argument is that if you remove ballet's mystery, you also risk losing its magic. What makes this production worth seeing are the dancers, especially Thomas Edur and Gary Avis as the Nutcracker Prince and the magician Drosselmeyer. Edur is a lovely classical dancer, with the ability to bring dignity to the least promising of roles.

Who else could climb into a giant origami bird, click on a safety harness, and still look like a noble Prince? Avis, currently on loan from the Royal Ballet, is an Elvisinspired Drosselmeyer, who conjures sweet magic for the young Clara (a painfully thin Alice Crawford). Credit, too, to Agnes Oaks as the Sugar Plum Fair, although Scarfe seemed to run short of ideas for her costume.

Until 8 January. Information 020 7632 8300.