Suddenly everyone is talking about St Petersburg Ballet Theatre and its leading dancer, Irina Kolesnikova – another overnight success eleven years in the making.


Founded in 1994, SPBT last week opened its Christmas three month UK tour with a one off performance of Swan Lake in London’s Royal Albert Hall and 4, 500 paying customers raised the roof.


Mind you, it would be difficult to go wrong with a dancer like Kolesnikova, nominated as Best Female Dancer in this year’s National Dance Awards, as Odette/Odile, one of the most difficult ballerina roles in the classical opus. Which is best, is it the tragic Swan Princess deceived by her lover, Siegfried (Dmitri Akulinin)? Or her wicked doppelganger, Odile, conjured malevolently to deceive her Prince and destroy Odette? Confused? You won’t be if you are lucky enough to see Kolesnikova. Her exquisite Odette, swooning with the rapture of her magical metamorphosis from bird to woman; her love duet with Siegfried, one of the most perfect sequences of classical ballet, performed with spiritual intensity and indomitable technique. Then she dazzles as Odile, scheming the lover’s downfall and death with inner confidence, physical control and intense relish achieved only by great dancers.


And SPBT know what corps de ballet work means. It is not just synchronisation, you can do that in a swimming pool, it is more about devotion to a shared schooling and culture, plus a deep respect for what you are doing. The SPBT dancers have it all. Nor is Kolesnikova the only improved dancer. Young Andrei Yakhnyuk is blossoming into a fine technician with a stage presence you cannot ignore while Olga Ovchinnikova has dash and an infectious grin.


The company as a whole has an irresistible likeability factor impossible to ignore and a welcome antidote for all of us to a gloomy British winter.