No matter how many times this classic of the ballet repertoire is performed, there is always something new to enchant viewers.


This production by the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre is a stimulating, handsomely packaged staging of the ballet, with every member of the cast offering a polished and committed performance.


One dancer alone stands out for scintillating execution: Irina Kolesnikova makes the roles of Odette/Odile her own, and effortlessly commands attention every time she appears.


Apart from her flawless lines and rigorously honed technique, there is the elusive and captivating quality of her reading of the twin personae.


Odette and Odile are reverse sides of the same coin: both are graceful and elegant, both have what it takes to win the heart of a man, but there the resemblance ends.


Odette's tragic vulnerability contrasts sharply with Odile's calculating, hard-edged sexuality, and some ballerinas find an affinity with the former, some with the latter.
Few have the insight and intelligence to do justice to both, but Kolesnikova is brilliantly convincing as both White Swan and Black Swan.


She enchants in solo and pas de deux alike; the timid grace of her first dance with Siegfried (Dmitry Akulinin) in the first act stirs into passion and then later into an abiding tenderness, which only an artist endowed with immense sensitivity and imagination can convey.


There is a danger that with so lustrous a lead, the merits of other performers might be overlooked or underestimated.


Fortunately Kolesnikova has the support of a highly talented and well-drilled cast, starting with her leading man.


Akulinin has the looks, youth, and princely bearing to carry off the part of Siegfried with ease and his technique is sound: apart from a missed cue on opening night, his performance complements that of Kolesnikova to good effect.


Executants of the bravura pas de trois in the opening scene of Act One give a proficient and eye-pleasing delivery of their none-too-easy agenda, while the saucy and officious Jester (Dmitry Shevtsov) is a delight.


This festive scene on the castle terrace generates uninhibited fun given the formality of the setting, holding audience attention until curtain-fall.
Swans reflected in the lake's water are a logical inclusion, although the leading swan -complete with jewelled coronet-labours the point unnecessarily and comes close to rendering the role kitsch.
This aside, the stylised sets are well conceived and suggest an enchanted fairytale world. Alexander Kantorov conducts the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, showing due respect for tempi suited to the dancers' capabilities.


As the radiant finale brings the evening to an end, spectators can only feel pleasure at the performance on our shores of a Swan Lake of such beauty.