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In the Kingdom of the Shades act Kondaurova looked ethereal with her long limbs, and she danced superbly with power and precision. She projected the right mystery and spiritual grandeur. But she is not yet as distinguished as Diana Vishneva or Uliana Lopatkina in this role. Kondaurova was also partnered this time, as in her debut in May, by the tall, newly promoted second soloist Andrei Yermakov.

I first noticed and admired Yermakov as the lady’s lover in “La Valse” back in 2006 not long after he joined the Mariinsky. Yermakov is an elegant dancer. His acting was convincing. His technical virtuosity was dazzling, especially in his series of ‘double assembles en tournant’ in his solo in the Shades act.

There were two other debuts in this particular performance. In the role of Gamzatti Anastasia Petushkova made a decent but not too impressive debut. Above all, Svetlana Ivanova was charming and delightful in this, her debut performance in the Manu dance – a woman balancing a jug on her head. But Ivanova should really have been dancing more leading roles instead. The 32 corps de ballet of shades was good but not as transcendent as in some recent performances.

I also caught a performance of Ratmansky’s “The Little Humpbacked Horse” with Irina Golub and Denis Matvienko in the lead roles. Two years after the premiere of this ballet, I admired once again Ratmansky’s ingenious choreography which fits so perfectly Shchedrin’s beautiful score. His narrative is clear. His choreography for the two pas de deux is particularly touching. It’s just a pity that Maxim Isayev’s sets are rather sparse and lack grandeur.

Maxim Isayev's libretto is based on the fairy tale by Pyotr Yershov and contains a lot of mime. Ivan the Fool is given a little humpbacked horse with magical powers who helps him in performing the impossible tasks demanded by the vain and selfish Tsar. Ivan finally marries the Tsar Maiden who is in love with him instead of the Tsar.

Matvienko had a comic flair, and brought to life this demi-caractere role of the weak Ivan the Fool. His virtuosic solos were spectacular as usual. His duets with the humpbacked horse, a recurrent leitmotif of this ballet, were vividly danced. And he was moving in his pas de deux with the Tsar Maiden. Nevertheless there were more nuances in this role when danced by its creator Mikhail Lobukhin two years ago in the Mariinsky Festival.

As the Tsar Maiden, Irina Golub had charm but lacked the warm glow and touching humanity that Viktoria Tereshkina conveyed when creating the role. Still she was ecstatic in the final soaring pas de deux. Grigory Popov was delightful and airy as the humpbacked horse. And Islom Baimuradov was menacing as the evil lord chamberlain of the Tsar.