Nikiya, the heroine of Petipa's La Bayadere, is one of those split-down-the-middle roles so beloved of the 19th century, in which the ballerina gets to dance two apparently different ballets in one evening.
The Nikiya of act I is an Indian temple dancer of rare beauty and rectitude whose lover Solor is appropriated by rich bitch Princess Gamzatti. Nikiya acts out her drama of doomed passion and unrewarded virtue in a wardrobe of exotically scanty outfits, her limbs coiling extravagantly around Petipa's fake oriental moves.
But by act II when she appears as a reproachful ghost before the sadder-but-wiser Solor, Nikiya is not only dressed in a standard tutu but is executing chastely classical steps.
Flipping from faux Indian beauty to 19th century Russian ballerina, some dancers fail to shine equally in both guises. Tamara Rojo certainly chimed best with the first act last night, finding an intemperate passion beneath her character's outward submissiveness which she signalled by pushing each move to a slightly voluptuous excess.
The fluidity of her line, the recklessness of her dancing were rich and beguiling but disappointingly, as her Nikiya danced towards death, Rojo failed to find an intensity that would propel her into the transfiguration of the Kingdom of the Shades in act 11.
Here the powered precision of her technique cut an undeniably authoritative path through the steps but Rojo's dancing lacked the eerie quality purity necessary to put a true visionary spin on the act.
The issue with Solor, Nikiya's lover, is how he opts to play his betrayal scenes. Is he going to appear dazzled by Gamzatti's ruthless glitter or cruelly outmanoeuvred? Is he going to be a sorry sap or a shallow monster?
Carlos Acosta is by an inclination a performer of flash rather than conscience and last night he devoted much of his energy to performing variations of breathtaking bravura egotism. He posesses that glorious virtuoso's trick of decelerating a string of pirouettes from fifth down to first gear and the trajectory of his jumps has a joyous, audacious clarity.
But Acosta has been maturing as an actor recently and his Solor had a surprising texture. As confident warrior his bearing was graced by regal, musical mime, while as victim his progression from troubled confusion to anguish was touching and credible.
Marianela Nunez was also a dangerously credible Gamzatti. In addition to dancing one of the most elegantly finessed solos of her career her acting proved a pleasingly obnoxious mix of pretty, blonde petulance and a ruthless avidity worthy of Imelda Marcos.
· In rep until March 15. Box office: 020-7304 4000.
