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I have over the years seen a number of promising debuts by Kirov dancers. Among the more memorable recent debuts that came to my mind were Natalia Sologub's debut as Aurora in the opening performance of the Kirov's Covent Garden season in 2001, and Svetlana Zakharova's debut as Juliet at the Mariinsky Theatre last year.

Viktoria Tereshkina's debut as Odette/Odile on this occasion was moderately successful. This long-limbed dancer has a very strong technique. She completed the difficult series of fouettes in the coda of the Black Swan pas de deux which even more senior ballerinas sometimes cannot manage as well. Tereshkina is actually temperamentally more suited to Odile than Odette, her characterisation as Odile was more convincing. In the white pas de deux in Act 2 she seemed slightly nervous and her dancing lacked expressiveness. However she picked up in the last act, and her Odette was slightly more moving.

Her Prince, Andrian Fadeyev, was more confident in his debut performance. Fadeyev is an exemplary danseur noble who possesses a pure classical style. He has already excelled as Albrecht, Prince Desire, Basilio and Solor; and Siegfried had been the only major gap in his classical repertory. Fadeyev looked bright and handsome in the opening act. He danced the short interpolated solo with the crossbow at the end of Act 1 poetically with a romantic yearning. It was impressive the way he danced the series of big grands jetes in one single long phrase. He was passionate in the white pas de deux and partnered Tereshkina with care. In the black pas de deux, he was quite dazzling in his high and space-devouring jumps.

There were notable performances in the Act 1 pas de trois. Irina Zhelonkina danced grandly with amplitude and poise. Vasily Scherbakov, who has a clean technique, impressed in his sharp and crisp entrechats quatre.

I have always admired this 1950 production of "Swan Lake" by Konstantin Sergeyev with its beautiful Gothic sets. Everything was in the right scale and proportion, with nothing forced and exaggerated. My only objections are its ridiculous happy ending and the intrusive jester. I am glad to be able to experience again in this performance what I have liked in this production. I can't think of any other ballet company who can perform the Act 3 national dances as well with such vitality and stylishness. The Kirov's character dancers in the Mazurka and the Czardas are still a wonder of the ballet world. Andrei Merkuriev had plenty of charm in the Spanish dance. The pathos of the tutor in this Kirov production, well acted by Petr Stasyunas on this occasion, is more touching than in other productions.

And of course the Kirov's corps de ballet of swans, dancing with such uniformity and vitality, is still unsurpassed. Their travelling arabesques in Act 2 were breathtaking, and their dancing in the final act's Valse Bluette had a elegiac grandeur. Judging from this performance, the Kirov is still dancing on top form.