Spartacus
Bolshoi Ballet, Royal Opera House, 29th July 2019
Big, bold, brassy. There’s only one company you’d want to see dance Spartacus: the Bolshoi Ballet. Although Aram Khachaturian’s raucous romp through the Third Servile War, in which Spartacus leads a slave rebellion against the Roman Empire, was premiered by the Kirov in 1956, it was Yury Grigorovich’s Bolshoi staging in 1968 which really put the ballet on the map. It’s the perfect vehicle for the bigger-higher-faster Bolshoi style and is the company’s calling card and – terrifically danced – the perfect opener for its London residency at the Royal Opera House.
Svetlana Zakharova (Aegina)
© Damir Yusupov
Click here to read the full review – including a Russian translation – on Bachtrack.