If I’ve seen Swan Lake once I’ve seen it a dozen times. One of the world’s most beautiful and well loved ballets, it combines romance and magic, princes and wizards, and most importantly a troupe of swans – delicate, graceful, elegant.


Given their central role, the best way to instantly ruin a production of Swan Lake, in my opinion, is to scrimp on the swans.


But if there’s one thing the Russians know how to do well, it’s ballet and I was not disappointed by this performance from the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre. There were at least a two dozen of them, filling the stage with a flurry of snow white feathers and displaying breathtaking skill as they moved almost as one.


Another potential stumbling block is the costumes and sets, which need to contrast the elegant simplicity of the swans and their lake setting with the opulent and richly textured court scenes. Here again, the company outdid expectation.


Although I was surprised to find myself sitting through a rather long pause between the first and second act, during which the audience started to fidget at the lack of music or movement, when the curtains were raised it became clear that the wait was worth it.


The warm autumn scene, in which Prince Siegfried frolics with his friends and attempts to choose a wife in time for the ball, had given way to a glittering forest of bare trees and snow, with a shimmering lake in the background across which floated pairs of swans, animated by the mechanical ingenuity of the stage design team.


It was in this setting that Siegfried, danced by Dmitriy Akulinin, first meets the swan princess Odette, a woman who spends her days as a bird thanks to the wicked magic of sorcerer Von Rothbart. And it was here that what had been a great performance became an exceptional one.


It is difficult to express in words the wonder of Irina Kolesnikova’s ability. Yes, the rest of the company can dance, but Irina moved her body with such emotion that it brought a tear to the eye. As Odette she was fragile, fluid, as the evil substitute Odile – Von Rothbart’s daughter – she was proud and strong. In both roles she filled each movement to its limit and not beyond, with poise and precision that was a joy to watch.


My only wish was that the artistic director had chosen the original, tragic version of the story, where Siegfried and Odette, realising their love is doomed, throw themselves into the lake – Irina‘s style begs for a tragic part.


Credit must be given to the four dancers who carried off the Dance of the Little Swans to perfection. There is huge pressure in performing such a well-known number, not to mention one which requires incredible timing, but they carried it off, executing their synchronised jetes and entrechats in perfect unison.


And behind all this, of course, was Tchaikovsky’s score, which in anyone’s hands is beautiful but played by this orchestra was full of real emotion, by turns joyful, longing, frightening. The haunting signature swan music left goosebumps on my arms despite how often I’ve heard it.


If you have never seen a ballet, this one will spoil you for life. If Swan Lake is an old favourite, take it from this fan, you’ll not regret shelling out for yet another ticket.