The historic dance culture of the Kirov may have been a barrier to the dancers getting under the skin of Kenneth MacMillan's very British Manon last week, but the traditions of Marius Petipa's Le Corsaire are bred so deep in their bones that it's hard to imagine any other company (certainly not the Royal) performing it.
Even though the Kirov's current production has modern designs and a modern pace, it retains the period extravagance of a show that was essentially a high-class piece of Imperial music hall. The Kirov's continuing combination of technical aplomb and willing theatricality allows them to perform the ballet as an entertaining romp a century after it was first made.
It's in the zesty flair of the character dancing, the preposterous near-overkill of the mime (Vladimir Ponomarev as a giddy old queen of a Seid Pasha) and the spectacular set pieces of the corps de ballet that the production's success is rooted. The Kirov bats the plot around so flamboyantly you don't question its logic, let alone its credibility, and as an ensemble the company gets full marks.
I do, though, miss the grown-up wit of the principals who were dancing the ballet a decade ago. Ilya Kuznetsov's Conrad may have a thundering line in heroics, with his blustering dynamics and big jump, but the suppleness of expression and sliver of irony required for romantic comedy are missing.
Svetlana Zakharova is more alive to Medora's fun mix of high-toned morality and mischief, but her dancing isn't fully alert to the beauties of the choreography. Like Uliana Lopatkina, Zakharova exemplifies the Kirov's current ideal of lean and leggy exaggeration. Her airily abstracted line is enthralling in slow motion but it lacks the detail and counterpoint necessary to accommodate the full physical and emotional texture of classical ballet.
The style looks meagre compared with the musically contoured dancing of Irina Golub as the first Odalisque, or with Faroukh Ruzimatov as Ali. At 38 the edge of Ruzimatov's bravura exoticism has been blunted but his reliance on acting and the musical phrase reminds us that while Le Corsaire is a lark, the ballet can also revolve around a centre of aesthetic poise and emotional resonance.
