Perm State Ballet of Russia

On Sunday night, the Perm State Ballet of Russia was more-than-a-little cramped on the stage of the Pavilion, D·n Laoghaire, which is like a postage stamp compared with the stage of the Opera House in Perm, but it was a privilege to see this superb company from so close. Every tiny detail of technique and expression was visible, yet all was perfection in a company that, unlike many in Russia, still retains all of Giselle's the beautiful mime, making the romantic story of this 1841 Coralli and Perrot ballet easy to follow.

Elena Kulagina was wonderful as the shy, dance-loving peasant betrayed into madness and death in Act 1, and the insubstantial ghost she becomes in Act 2, while Roman Geer convincingly acted the false, and later contrite, lover while dancing and partnering superbly. Radiy Miniakhmetov was splendid as the jealous gamekeeper who exposes the deception and Natalia Moiseeva and Sergei Mershin gave a classic rendering of the Act 1 pas de deux. Yulia Mashkina was a commanding Queen of the Wilis, while her assistants Zulma and Moyna were beautifully danced by Rimma Siraeva and Monica Loughman.

But the proof of quality of this outstanding company was the perfect grace and unity of the corps de ballet, rivalled only by the Kirov, from which Perm partly derives. Sets and costumes (by T. Bruny and E. Leschinsky) were enchanting, though Act 2 seemed less wooded than the plot would suggest, and Adolphe Adam's score was excellently played, even though recorded. This was Giselle at its best.