The grand Russian ballet companies that once perched in London for the summer won’t be returning any time soon, so the Coliseum has looked 2000 miles south of Moscow, inviting the State Ballet of Georgia from Tbilisi. This ferociously trad production of Swan Lake marks their London debut.
Swan Lake can be a slow burner of a ballet, and this opening act is more sedate than most. There’s a pretty painted backdrop in sylvan green; people muster polite grins and toast each other with empty goblets – old school ballet behaviour. On bounds Prince Siegfried (Oleg Lihai) with tilting leaps and hopeful smile. The crux of Swan Lake is often the prince’s search for meaning, craving romance to turn his life about. Lihai, however, plays him as well-meaning but hardly the sharpest arrow in the quiver.
