It was in fact a jolly good old-fashioned ballet gala, complete with oversized glossy programme, bouquets all round at the end, and hundreds of opportunities to applaud whether you felt like it or not.

Despite the variable quality taped music, awful lighting, single backdrop, and unsuitability of the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall as a dance venue; we were treated to a very enjoyable evening of some high quality dancing.

The program looks as if it's the same throughout the tour and is:

-Festival of Flowers from Jensano: Irina Pyatkina and Dmiti Bugaev.
-PDD from Sleeping Beauty: Tatyana Shanina and Alexei Shanin.
-Act 2 Swan Lake: Nina Semizorova and Mark Peretokin.
-Harlequinade: Anna Kostina and Bugaev.
-Gopak: R Pronin ( no first name volunteered )
-Esmeralda: Shanina and Shanin again.
-Dying Swan: Semizorova again.
-The Walpurgis Night: Irina Pyatkina and Mark Peretokin.

All the above were a joy to watch - hightlights were Shanina and Shanin in 'Esmeralda'( just one of the ballets on offer that I hadn't seen before ), and also in an almost flawless Sleeping Beauty ppd., and Irina Pyatkina's light and fluid dancing in Walpurgis Night.

A personal revelation was 'Dying Swan'. I'd never seen this performed live, and imagined it would be at best an interesting museum piece, so I was surprised how moving I found it. What a wonderfully simple evocation of the utter isolation of dying.

From here they tour around England and N Ireland, via Carlisle tonight. Perhaps Alison can scan in the details - if not I'll type them in if anyone's interested.

May 2001

Tuesday 22 Blackpool The Gran
Wednesday 23 Hemel Hempstead Dacoru
Thursday 24 King's Lyrm Corn Exch' 01553 764 864
Sunday 27 Eastbourne Congress Theatre 01323 412 000
Monday 28 Reading Hexagon 0118 960 6060
Tuesday 29 Liverpool Philharmonic Hall 0151 709 3789
Wednesday 30 Liverpool Philharmonic Hall 0151 709 3789

June 2001
Saturday 2 Weymouth The Pavilion 01305 783225
Monday 4 Croydon Fairfield Halls 020 8688 9291
Tuesday 5 Croydon Fairfield Halls 020 8688 9291
Wednesday 6 Dartford The Orchard 01322 220000
Friday 8 Barnstaple Queen's Theatre 01271324 242
Saturday 9 Barnstaple Queen's Theatre 01271324 242
Sunday 10 Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre 01202 456 456
Monday 11 Belfast Waterfront Hall 028 9033 4455
Tuesday 12 Belfast Waterfront Hall 028 9033 4455

Sorry for the mess - will try and tidy up later and put it on the Company News Page.

The Genzano pdd wasn't exactly danced with perfect Bournonville style, but it was hugely enjoyable - Pyatkina and Bugaev did not look at all stale, but fresh and bright, and she especially is an enchanting dancer.

I was less happy with the Sleeping Beauty pdd - technically it was fine, if you don't mind the (to me) tasteless 6 o'clock arabesques, but I thought Shanina had a glazed grin rather than any real radiance, and there was more than a hint of the music hall about it, somehow.

Swan Lake Act 2 suffered from the shape of the platform at the wildly unsuitable Philharmonic Hall - it is quite wide but very shallow. I was impressed by the way they adapted to this, and got used to watching in widescreen, so to speak. The small corps was impeccably drilled, though drilled is the word - rather mechanical. Semizorova had an irritating habit of hunching her shoulders, though legs and feet were wonderful. I saw from the programme that she is 45 - I would certainly not have known. In fact, few of the dancers were young. Mark Peretokin was impressive in this, as he was in everything. Fine elevation and a strong presence.

Stunning Gopak from R. Pronin - it's a long time since I have heard gasps in a theatre. One minute of sure show-stopping fireworks.

Dying Swan was - well, Dying Swan. Well danced by Semizorova, but not helped by the soupy Mantovani strings used in the musical arrangement.

Walpurgis Night (music by Guno - read that as Gounod) was a bit puzzling, as the audience couldn't decide at first whether it was meant to be funny or not. A lot of the audience was reduced to helpless (muffled) giggles. Spectacular lifts by Peretokin - the delightful Pyatkina is very, very thin, so presumably light to lift. Peretokin looked quite Nureyev-ish in this. He needed more space, though.

All in all, a triumph over circumstances. The audience adored it all.