The last time we went to the ballet was four years ago when we went to see English National Ballet's production of The Sleeping Beauty at Oxford's New Theatre. So last night was a repeat of that wonderful performance, but this time with more comfortable seats. As the orchestra pit took up the first rows of seats, we actually ended up in the fifth row, with perhaps the best view in the house of the raised stage that projected into the auditorium.
Everything about this production is first class. The dancing, costumes, lighting and of course the great music. Listening so near to ENB's 60 piece orchestra playing Tchaikovsky is almost worth the ticket price alone. The principals for this performance were Fernanda Oliveira as Princess Aurora and Dmitri Gruzdyev as Prince Desire. I don't think Fernanda had danced this role since 2008, and this was her first time on this tour. So she may have been a little rusty. Don't get me wrong, she is a brilliant dancer having progressed from Principal to Senior Principal in the company. But the following review from 2008 explained what we had seen:
"being so close it was possible to see that she was really pushing herself ; must have been quite nervous as she her hand was shaking slightly. I cannot imagine why as she delivered one of the best danced Auroras I have seen for a long while!"
Gruzdyev is a very experienced lead and was confident all the way through. But the one dancer that caught my eye was Ksenia Ovsyanick dancing for the first time as as the Lilac Fairy, one of the main roles. So it was to my surprise after the performance to see she is listed on the ENB website as one of the lowly artists. In 2008 she was just one of Lilac Fairie's attendents. But last night she danced a role normally reserved for Principal Dancers, and at one matinee on the tour she actually dances the lead. She is still quite young, but to my uneducated eye, this is a future star.
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