Review: Moscow Ballet La Classique thrills audience

Let's be honest, Russia is to Ballet as much as Italy is to Opera. You expect Russian Ballet to be good, and Moscow Ballet La Classique's touring production of Sleeping Beauty lived up to every expectation, and raised the bar even higher for any future ballet performances to come to Taranaki.

My fellow reviewer was my daughter, who at the age of seven, loves tutus, ballet and fairytale princesses, so this was obviously going to be a match made in heaven for her.

As the lights dimmed, we both held our breath as the curtains came up and the dancers began to weave their magic. From the very first moment, we were captivated by every detail played out on the stage in front of us. King Florestan, played by Evgenii Sharipov captured the audience with his stage presence. His role requires him to sit and watch much of the action, yet with just a few hand and eye movements he had us fully engaged with him and he carried the story throughout along with his consort, the queen.

The evil and vindictiveness of Carabosse was brought to life by Andrei Shalin, who somehow made a graceful creature of the hunchbacked wicked fairy. As one of the two choreographers for the production, it would seem his talent has no end.

Every time the Lilac Fairy appeared on stage, the audience held its breath. Everyone was completely enthralled by her beauty and seemingly effortless grace as she danced her way through some complicated solo pieces which beautifully showed off her skill.

The role of Princess Aurora demands much of a dancer, somehow she must portray both a young girl just coming of age, yet also a regal princess.

Aurora was convincing and enchanting to watch as she portrayed the former, but the strain showed momentarily as she passed from suitor to suitor, balanced on one leg. Her smile remained, but the strength required by this piece of choreography saw her struggle to maintain perfect balance for a brief moment, reminding us of the amazing dedication every dancer has to give their craft.

The younger members of the audience all clearly enjoyed the second act, with a series of solo and duet moments as a range of wedding guests, from Red Riding Hood to Puss in Boots, showed off their talent and love of what they do. Of particular note was Elena Rykunova's White Cat, who had us all convinced that she really was a feline in a tutu.

My fellow reviewer also wishes praise Tatiana Kuznetsova's Fairy of Sapphire. While I agree with the seven year old that her footwork was fantastic, I do suspect the praise was more to do with the fact of a shared first name which made my daughter's night!

If there was to be one criticism of the night, it would be to bemoan the lack of a live orchestra. Somehow, ballet loses just a little of it's pomp and grandeur when it is performed to a soundtrack rather than live music, however, the decision to tour without kept ticket prices down, thus opening up the beautiful world of ballet to more people, which has to be a good thing.

There is no doubt that the talented dancers of Moscow Ballet La Classique reminded everyone in the audience just how good ballet can be and I for one certainly can't wait to see the next production this touring group bring.