In 1955, Lichine was invited by Edouard Borovansky to return to Australia to stage a full length Nutcracker for the Borovansky Ballet for its 1955–1956 season. Lichine had first visited Australia with the Covent Garden Russian Ballet (Original Ballet Russe) on their Australian tour of 1938–1939. Lichine's "Nutcracker", a ballet that was a staple Christmas treat for Australian audiences for many years, premiered on 16 December 1955 with Peggy Sager as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Royes Fernandez as the Prince. During his visit to Australia, Lichine was also commissioned to create an original ballet, the result was "Corrida", which had first been workshopped in Lichine's Los Angeles studio in 1952. Its world premiere as a fully realized production was on 17 February 1956, with the lead roles performed by Kathleen Gorham and Paul Grinwis.