Ballet scenarios don't come much sillier than The Pharaoh's Daughter, which turns on the story of British Egyptologist Lord Wilson who, after a reckless hit of opium, dreams himself back to the time of the pharaohs. Wilson falls in love with Aspicia, the ballet's titular heroine, and when she throws herself into the Nile to avoid being married off to the King of Nubia, Wilson is left to face death by snakebite. Tragedy is averted by the Nile's underwater king who restores Aspicia to Wilson's arms.
In a production that freely mixes tutus with turbans, and boasts stuffed lions, capering monkeys and a Muppet snake, issues of authenticity are low on the list. Marius Petipa certainly didn't give them much thought when he created the ballet in 1862. Pierre Lacotte, however, who reconstructed this lost work for the Bolshoi in 2000, has more of a case to argue. Not only has he cut the ballet's length by almost a third, losing a lot of explanatory mime, but his version of the choreography is more ruthlessly dense and difficult than any 19th-century dancer could attempt.
The downside of this rewrite is its diminished clarity and charm. By rushing the narrative, Lacotte not only exacerbates its foolishness but drains the pure dance passages of motive and context. The stage feels alternately crowded and empty - an insult to Petipa, who was a master at orchestrating the larger rhythms of his productions. The upside is that Pharaoh's Daughter has become the shiniest of star vehicles. Svetlana Zakharova flies mischievously and gracefully through the rigours of Aspicia's choreography while Sergei Filin's Wilson is as supple and sharp-footed as a cat. They get more than generous support from the rest of the cast, who not only act and dance a vivacious storm, but wear their huge wardrobe of costumes with style.
Whatever doubts are raised by Lacotte's choreography, his designs are deliriously extravagant - and with these, at least, we're guaranteed a taste of the blockbusting opulence that enthralled St Petersburg and Moscow 140 years ago.
· Ends tonight. Box office: 020-7304 4000.
