Dance Review by Emma Manning

PERFECTION PLUS PERSONALITY

If one needs an excuse to blow £69 on a ticket to see the Bolshoi Ballet, then Nina Ananiashvili is as good a reason as any.

Her Kitri in Alexei Fadeyechev's revival of the Petipa/Gorsky Don Quixote, surpasses any former exponent. From her first «sell-it-to-the-gods» entrance, she is completely on top of the technical hurdles. Every balance is riveted to the spot, every jete razors the air and her fouettes, taken at a suicidal speed, had the house roaring with delight. But Ms. Ananiashvili is no mere textbook technician. Her personality is infectious and she ignites each step with a vivacity that makes you believe it was invented a few hours ago. Not just a dancer out to zap, off the tricks, but a flirtatious Spanish girl out to have the time of her life.

...As an entity, the production affords rather more Spanish dance than either Baryshnikov’s or Nureyev’s staging, and much of the choreography is flamenco driven ...Don Quixote’s dream sequence, favouring white tutus, afforded welcome contrast to the overwhelming Spanishness, and I enjoyed Nina Kaptsova’s delicate Cupid...