REVIEWS: Reviews today include Swan Lake, Grand Opera House, Belfast and Deep Purple at the Point Theatre, Dublin

Swan Lake, Grand Opera House, Belfast

After  the lean years of the past decade or so, what a joy it is to see substantial resources going back into Russian ballet, so that sumptuous productions like this can tour the world and bring the magic of classical white ballet to new international audiences.

Moscow City Ballet's traditional Swan Lake starts to work its spell from the ground up, beginning with artistic director Victor Smirnov-

Golovanov's dramatic, gloriously painted backcloths, clearly inspired by Leon Bakst and the Ballets Russes.

They find perfect accompaniment in Elizaveta Dvorkina's swirling costumes of embroidered russet velvets, pearly tulle and the heart-breakingly pure, unadorned white of the swan maidens.

Then comes the corps de ballet, young, focused and perfectly in harmony. Some may not be the conventional build for classical dancers, but they perform as a well-drilled, coherent ensemble, with some budding principals in their ranks.

Surprisingly, it is within the starry ranks of the soloists that the emotional level drops a notch or two. Elena Zhavoronkova dances with absolute control and technical brilliance, her Odette ice-cold and devoid of emotion, her Odile spikily bewitching. She is advanced in years and experience and shows up Talgat Kozhabaev's rather wooden Siegfried, whose solos reveal the fine dancer beneath the nervous exterior and who, eventually, convinces in his portrayal of a young man caught up in an unattainable sexual fantasy.

But one senses little passion or connection between the two, and it is left to the enchanting Elena Osokina to light the touchpaper on the evening, performing both the Spanish solo and her role as the girlfriend of Sergey Zolotarev's pixie-like Benno with thrilling tensile strength and beguiling, confident charm.

Jane Coyle

Continues until Saturday; bookings at 048-90241919

Deep Purple, Point, Dublin

For one brief, ear-splitting moment in my youth, Deep Purple was the primary colour of rock 'n' roll. Albums such as Machine Head, Fireball and the live set Made In Japan had me screaming happily along until my voice broke.

Now, nearly 30 years later, Purple are back on the circuit, opening their tour with a show at the Point. We should have grown out of this by now, but here we are again, in our jeans and leather jackets, dusting off our air guitars and shaking our ponytails to My Woman From Tokyo. Even old boys will be boys.

Purple have gone through a few personnel changes in their time, but tonight we get the near-classic line-up of singer Ian Gillan, keyboard player Jon Lord, bassist Roger Glover and drummer Ian Paice. Original guitarist Richie Blackmore is gone; American axeman Steve Morse slots in nicely with the Purple sound, although one of my dad-rocking friends noted that some southern boogie crept into Morse's playing from time to time.

So, whadaya wanna hear? Smoke On The Water? Child In Time? Hush? Speed King? OK, but first you gotta listen to some new stuff - we hope you like it. I knew there'd be a catch. The Aviator sounds like Van Halen on a day trip to Blackpool, while Up The Wall just needs an 18-inch replica of Stonehenge to complete the Spinal Tap look.

The band members look pretty healthy for their collective age: Gillan can't hit the blood-curdling screams any more, but I'd say he could take on anyone in an arm-wrestling match. At 60, Lord is the oldest member, but he still has nimble keyboard fingers. As they end with Highway Star, you have to admit that Purple rocked, but you also have to admit that it's not 1973 any more.

Kevin Courtney