Minkus: La Bayadère **
St Petersburg Ballet Theatre, Coliseum, 22nd August 2015
In the absence of a visiting Mariinsky or Bolshoi company during the summer hiatus, London’s balletomanes could get their classical ballet fix via the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre, the reputation of which rests on the shoulders of its prima ballerina, Irina Kolesnikova. Indeed the tour bears the immodest title the “Irina Kolesnikova London Season”. Founded by Konstantin Tachkin (Kolesnikova’s husband) and run without any state funding or sponsorship, the SPBT gives the majority of its performances on tour, sticking to tried-and-tested classics. Here, following a ten-performance run of Swan Lake, we had two performances of La Bayadère, which ably demonstrated the company’s weaknesses.
© Andrei Klemeshev
Read the full review on Bachtrack.