'Dying Swan' reviews 'Pique Dame' reviews 'In The Middle' reviews recent Maris Liepa Gala reviews more Charlotte Kasner reviews Discuss this review (Open for at least 6 months) The evening was supported the Raisa Gobachev Foundation a charity devoted to alleviating the suffering caused by child cancer.

Liepa's son Andris introduced the evening by recounting the stage manager's memory of Liepa dancing Crassus in Spartacus in that very house in 1974. I too was in the house, having just gone to secondary school and saving bus and lunch money for weeks to buy a ticket. How privileged I was; it was to be the only time that I saw him dance live.

The programme opened with film footage of Liepa's major rôles followed by daughter Ilze's tribute to her father, choreographed by Jurijus Smoriginas to a section of AI Khachaturian's adagio from Spartacus. I'm sure that I was not the only one shedding tears.

Tamara Rojo and Federico Bonelli got the evening off to a rousing start with the pas de deux from the seldom performed Esmerelda. Resplendent in a gorgeous green and black tutu, Rojo was technical perfection itself and Bonelli light as a feather with batterie to die for.

Uwe Scholtz choreographed a male solo to music from The Firebird, Vladimir Derevianko giving a haunting rendition that almost seemed to have the ghost of Liepa dancing alongside and the firebird herself hovering over beneficially.

Ilze Liepa reappeared to dance a pas de deux from Michael Shannon's Mme Bovary with Mark Peretokin, a tantalising glimpse of the production that left one aching to see the full version. It was marred only by some idiot's loud jangling mobile telephone bursting through the dying moments of Rhachmaninov. It was almost like a Chekov short story, packing a lifetime of drama and passions into a brief episode.

Sergei Polunin gave a more than respectable rendition of the Bronze Idol solo from Bayadère and nobly stayed in full body make up until the curtain calls.

Svetlana Zakharova's Dying Swan was alas rather too expiring. She fell into the trap of frantic flapping, depriving us of the power of the shoulders, came off pointe to posé rather often and skipped the fiendishly difficult back bend whilst bouréeing. There are several versions of Fokine's classic but this was the least satisfactory. It may look like simple bouré'es but this proved that it is a very challenging piece to pull off satisfactorily with the correct balance of pathos and dramaand not slide into dullness or parody. At least we were spared the shedding feathers.

The first half was brought to a close with Mariella Nunez and Thiago Soares dancing a pas de deux from Corsaire in place of the scheduled Bayadè're pas de deux. It certainly whetted the appetite for more.

The second half opened with Roland Petit's Pique Dame, fortunately available on DVD, as this extract left one wanting more. Ilze Liepa has inherited her father's talent for dramatic expression and, throughout the evening, proved herself a very versatile performer indeed.

Maria Alexandrova and Sergei Filin changed the pace with the wonderful reconstruction of Pharaoh's Daughter, becoming a firm favourite with London audiences, although marred this evening by the slippery stage that had caused a few problems earlier. Alexandrova's bravery enabled her to finish with aplomb after an unfortunate start.

Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg danced the letter pas de deux from Onegin. Surprisingly, given the fact that it has been in the Royal Ballet's repertoire so recently, some of the partnering was fumbled and lifts looked awkward at times.

Forsyth's In The Middle Somewhat Elevated provided terrific punctuation to the largely 19th century feast and was performed with attack and precision by Agnes Letestu and Jose Martinez.

Sarah Lamb and David Makhateli had the daunting task of dancing the balcony pas de deux from the iconic Lavrosky production of Romeo and Juliet. Many people in the audience would have seen Ulanova dance it either on film or live. Makhateli proved a solid and passionate partner but Sarah Lamb seemed rather pallid by comparison.

In contrast to a disappointing Dying Swan, Svetlana Zakharova gave a powerful and poignant rendition of Mitoso Hiroyama's Revelation that hinted at all sorts of mental and physical anguish and was at times, perhaps because of the use of a chair, reminiscent of Swansong.

The finale was, appropriately for a tribute to Maris Liepa, the pas de deux from Don Q, one of his greatest rôles. It was well worth the wait to see Natalia Osipova and Leonid Sarafanov. Osipova has been recorded as saying that she was beginning to dance Kitri in her sleep as she had performed the rôle so often; it was obviously beneficial. Her poise and panache was only matched by the brio of her turns and the insouciance with which she handled her fan. Sarafanov was terrific as Basil which a huge jump and lightness of landing.

This was an excellently balanced programme with the old favourites interspersed with newer works. While nothing can make up for the tragically early death of one of the greatest dancers of the twentieth century it is to be hoped that the Liepa gala greatly benefits the Raisa Gorbachev Foundation's work in alleviating the suffering caused by child cancer.