Until quite recently, a touring Russian ballet company meant one of two things: the Kirov or the Bolshoi. Nowadays, however, touring Russian ballet companies seem to be springing up all over the place, some of them - like the Stanislavski Ballet from Moscow, whose pre-Christmas programme of Nutcracker and Swan Lake at the Point Theatre was rapturously received by audiences and critics alike - of astounding excellence.
Is this simply a case of ballerinas on the bandwagon, making a few bob before the novelty value fades, or a genuine Russian renaissance? Dublin ballet-lovers will have a chance to judge for themselves with this week's visit of the St Petersburg Ballet to the National Concert Hall with Swan Lake and Don Quixote. An advance press release for the show speaks eloquently of St Petersburg as the cradle of Russian classical ballet, with a lineage going back to 1738, when the first ballet school was opened for children of courtiers, serving the Tsar's imperial court, but in fact the St Petersburg Ballet dates back only as far as October 1994, when the company ("this young and vibrant company," declares the press release with admirable tenacity) was founded by Konstantin Tatchkin and based in a 19thcentury mansion built by Nicholas II.
Sets and costumes for all St Petersburg Ballet productions are made in the studios of the extraordinary Mariinsky Theatre, home of the Kirov Ballet - which is also, indeed, home to the soloists who will be performing in Dublin, Irena Tchistiakova, Margareta Kulick, Vladimir Kim and Alexander Klimov.
The group tours with its own orchestra, which means that for the past month a total of 90 dancers, musicians and technical staff have been trundling around such venues as the Cliffs Pavilion, Southend, the Grand Opera House, York and the Empire Theatre, Sunderland, unpacking the delicate combination of heroism and heartbreak which makes Swan Lake such an enduring favourite with audiences everywhere.
The Dublin shows will, however, be given an extra dimension by the presence of the company's ballet mistress, Svetlana Efimova, who will give an open masterclass on Monday afternoon at 3 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend and with an admission fee of £2, no one who is interested in Russian ballet should miss this opportunity to see how it is all put together, step by painstaking step.
The St Petersburg Ballet will perform Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake at the National Concert Hall tomorrow and Monday, and Minkus's Don Quixote on Tuesday night.
