Dance Review by John Percival

THE PRINCE OF THE PAGODAS

Nina Ananiashvili confessed in these pages on Thursday to some apprehension about Benjamin Britten’s complex score for «The Prince of the Pagodas», but you would never have guessed it from last nights performance. Nobody has listened more attentively and understandingly to the music than she; every movement said as much.

This was one of her blessings in the role; the others were that sweet generosity of movement which is hers by nature, and the warm expressiveness she can put into every gesture, even a simple look at her partner; a wealth of thoughts and emotions implied in one turn other head.

That partner was Alexei Fadeyechev, who has the advantage that if you have danced Spartacus at the Bolshoi you have stamina to cope with the sequence of demanding entries in Act III: the big battle scene, followed by the showpiece solo, followed by the quick scurrying coda.

The character combines in one role the two extremes of his Moscow repertoire: the attentively courteous cavalier and the suffering monster - Nutcracker Prince and Ivan the Terrible in one person. I am not sure which was more impressive, his grace and style in the big duet, or the relish with which he saw off his opponents with staff, sword and kicks.

Both of the guest stars easily encompassed the intricacies of MacMillan’s choreography; the easy lightness of all Ananiashvili’s jumps proving particularly well suited to make a contrast with Deborah Bull’s forcefulness as the heroine's wicked sister.