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In Act 1 the peasant pas de deux was superbly danced by Andrey Yahknyuk, but alas I don't know who his female partner was as they were not named specifically in the cast list, but their performance certainly impressed the audience. Irina Perren gave a lovely interpretation of Giselle and I found her style in Act 2 very moving. Irina Kosheleva deserves praise for her lovely bourees in the opening scenes of Act 2 as Myrtha. Semyun Chudin performed some super grand jetes and cabrioles.

The corps de ballet was well rehearsed and the peasant scenes were bright and colourful and in Act 2 the Wilis dancers made perfect lines across the stage - they danced in synch and it was a beautiful sight to see.

It was quite odd being in this audience as the Italians were reluctant to applaude any difficult moves - people shush'd!! Even after the amazing Wilis scene where the ballerinas cross to and fro on the stage en arabesque no applause followed - it was out of respect for the storyline, it felt rather bizzare to me, but it did allow the story to proceed unbroken. You could see at some points the dancers pausing as if waiting for applause that never came. However, that said the audience made up for it all at the end of Acts 1 and 2 with lots of applause and cries of Bravo and the leading ladies were presented with flowers at the end.

The Wilis in Giselle
© Mikhailovsky Ballet

I must mention the orchestra of La Fenice Theatre who played the score beautifully - those last notes where Giselle says her dawn goodbye to Albrecht coupled with Irina Perren's emotional interpretation of Giselle left me quite literally in tears. Another stunning performance from The Mikhailovksy.

So where do the firemen come in?! Well, those who saw the London performances will recall the unusal but imaginative use of "sparklers" poking out of the stage side scenery to herald the arrival of the Wilis, but here at the Fenice the number was reduced to 2 per side - the Venetians are obviously VERY jittery about any fire near their precious, newly rebuilt and very beautiful Fenice Theatre - so much so the local fire brigade was present throughout the performance in full fire fighting gear!