MAKE sure to see this revival of artistic director David Nixon's beautiful, magical interpretation of the 18th century story of Beauty & The Beast, the one with the debt collectors and a removals lorry barging its way on stage.

It first delighted, amused and moved Yorkshire audiences in 2011 and earlier this year Nixon staged his work for the Western Australia Ballet in Perth. Now The Beast is back in Leeds after an autumn tour, polished and utterly assured.

Nixon invites you to "discover the magic that can happen when you look beneath the surface" as love conquers all; a good piece of advice for an age fixated on body image, materialism, plastic surgery, selfies, the latest look and "loves" on Instagram.

Mind you, the surface in this Beauty & The Beast is spectacularly impressive. You won't see a more ravishing set and costume design anywhere in Yorkshire this Christmas than the work of Duncan Hayler with its metal and mirrors, branches and climbing frames. He evokes vanity and nature, beauty and sacrifice all at once, the design so tactile that Ayami Mayata's Beauty slumbers in the caress of a supersized rose hammock.

A score by Saint-Saens, Bizet, Debussy and Glazunov, performed by the Northern Ballet Sinfonia, underpins Nixon’s powerful, poetic and sensuous choreography, where the animalistic movement for Mlindi Kulashe's pained Beast is particularly striking.

One wish: The Beast's anguish in waiting for Beauty's return, symbolised by the changing moons, could have been extended for yet more dazzling Nixon choreography.

Northern Ballet in Beauty & The Beast, Leeds Grand Theatre, until January 7 2017. Box office: 0844 848 2700 or at leedsgrandtheatre.com