Ballet Russe
6 May

Keith came to visit Ross and I over the Bank Holiday weekend.

His primary purpose for visiting Liverpool was to attend a college reunion. However, it was good all round that we could offer him accommodation and general hospitality. This culminated in a Sunday roast which included duck and a tray of roasted vegetables.

Ross and I rather wasted the Monday in another bout of uncertain communication. However, the best news from him that I have had in ages was his determination to take some of the materials away to work on with his counsellor/healer, Tom.

Big arts event of the weekend was a visit to see the Kirov Ballet over at the Lowry in a performance of La Bayadère. I suppose the first thing to say is that, if you are going to attend a classic 19th Century ballet with all of the trappings of that convention, then the Kirov are as good a place as any to park your bum in front of as any. They have the style in spades.

It's no good criticising it for being something that it is not. Personally, I don't like all the pantomime that the tradition employs in order to convey plot. The synopsis was a give away as to the priorities. Act One took two thirds of an A4 sheet summarise. Act Two took two paragraphs. Act Three was summed up in a couple of sentences. Narrative became less and less important and the dancers just danced.

My heart falls when I open an opera programme and the synopsis begins The curtain rises on a group of peasants merry-making at a gathering. I get the same sinking feeling at the ballet when I read As Act Two begins, the wedding of Character A and Character B is celebrated in a series of elaborate dances.

However, as I say, there's little point in criticising the experience for not being something which it was never intended to be. What I do criticise is the general level of execution. There were just too many wobbles and semi-tumbles.

So, I came away wondering whether there is a legal definition of what constitutes the Kirov Ballet. I am sure that the production is one that I would see if I visited the company in Russia. I am quite content that the orchestra might be local; that seems to me to be one of the exigencies of global touring. I am quite content that some of the supernuminaries looked decidedly un-Slav - more Canal Street than Russian Steppes. Probably the principals and the conductor have appeared with the company in Russia. But I do wonder how many of the corps would be present if I were to attend that imaginary performance. I suspect very few.

Which is why I wonder if there is a legal definition of what constitutes a performance by the Kirov Ballet and if the premium ticket prices could be challenged under the Trades Description Act. I can't give it more than three stars and even then I feel that I am being generous.