Vienna Festival Ballet was founded in 1980 by the Austrian former star dancer Peter Mallek. For more than 30 years they having been touring Europe, and further afield, giving performances for seven months of the year. Quite an achievement. Last weekend they were at the Mill Arts Centre, in Banbury, with their version of The Nutcracker, choreographed by Sheila Styles, who has also been responsible for their excellent Cinderella.

Once again they show that a small company, with a lot of doubling-up, even trebling, can put on a production that fills the stage with colour and movement. This is a traditional Nutcracker, with the guests arriving for a Christmas party, including a wonderfully tipsy granny, where an almost boyish Drosselmeyer (Joseph Mackie-Graves) presents young Clara with the eponymous doll. And young she is — this was Jodie McKnight’s debut in the role. She only left the Central School of Ballet last year, but already has a strong technique and a likeable personality, and is a charming Clara in an interpretation that will develop further as she gains experience.

Richard Hackett makes a handsome Nutcracker Prince, and the whole work moves along at a swift pace. The battle of the soldiers with the Mouse King and his horde (of three) is rightly done in a lighthearted way, and the costumes for both sides are excellent, particularly those for the mice.

After a very effective Waltz of the Snowflakes we move to the Kingdom of the Sweets for the national dances. Hard-working Joseph Mackie-Graves is the male dancer in the Spanish Dance, and later returns, unrecognisable in a blue wig and spotted clown costume, as one of the Harlequins — terrific fun.

But the star of this series of dances is Georgina Rose Connolly in the Arabian Dance. Here is a dancer who has it all — looks, sex appeal, and a fine technique.