Bolshoi Ballet Diamond Jubilee, Royal Opera House

This year’s glittering three-week run of Bolshoi Ballet productions in the capital will mark the 60th Anniversary of the Company’s first ever performance at London’s Royal Opera House.

Dance aficionados and first-timers alike will delight in the amazing array of ballets on offer.

Traditionalists will be thrilled by the season’s opener - a flamboyant restaging of the high-spirited classic Don Quixote – and spellbound by the Bolshoi Ballet’s perennially popular version of every balletomane’s favourite, the timeless Swan Lake.

Meanwhile, truly tempting terpsichorean treats are waiting in the wings for dedicated dance-goers keen to experience some of the more unusual picks from the repertoire.

Renowned choreographer (and the Bolshoi’s former artistic director) Alexei Ratmansky’s enthralling update of Vasily Vainonen’s 1932 Soviet classic The Flames of Paris is one of the most interesting recent additions to the Bolshoi’s repertoire. The return of this production follows the astounding success of its London premiere in 2013.

Set to Boris Asafiev’s powerfully evocative score, this two-act classical ballet is a drama of intrigue, love and tragedy which unfolds against the background of the tumultuous events of the French Revolution.

An epic tour de force, the ballet blends classical and character dancing, court and folk dances, pantomime, solo performances and group scenes. At the heart of the piece is a stunning pas-de-deux between two young lovers.

Shakespeare’s comical depiction of a clash between two feisty individuals is perfectly conveyed in acclaimed choreographer Jean-Christophe Maillot’s The Taming of the Shrew. Fast-paced, athletic and brilliantly entertaining, this slapstick ballet is set to witty, light-hearted music by Dmitri Shostakovich.

The strengths of the Bolshoi’s dancers (you can expect energy, élan, nerve and superb technique to be displayed by every single artist) come to the fore as independent, tempestuous Katharina is ‘tamed’ by the boorish Petruchio.
An exuberant version of Le Corsaire will complete the Company’s London Diamond Jubilee season.

Conspiracy, love, deception, kidnapping, a harem and a remarkable shipwreck make Le Corsaire a legendary production. The Bolshoi’s spectacular staging is a reworking by Alexei Ratmansky of Marius Petipa’s original exotic ballet and has become one of the Company’s most acclaimed productions.

The Royal Ballet’s Natalia Osipova, a former star of the Bolshoi Ballet, is scheduled to perform with the Company as chief guest artist – injury permitting...