Le Corsaire

The Bolshoi Ballet’s return to Australia last night with the monumentally spectacular Le Corsaire was a giddy, glorious delight. Based on a poem by Lord Byron, and set in Turkey, this romantic swashbuckling story of pirates and slave girls had all the fun of a Pirates of the Caribbean movie with exotic characters, settings and costumes. It was old-school traditional ballet, expertly executed by a company with its tongue firmly planted in its cheek.

In the role of Medora, Maria Alexandrova followed a long line of legendary ballerinas who have danced the part and on last night’s performance her name should be added to the list of greats. She was the danseur supreme. Time and time again she astonished with her technique eliciting bravos throughout the performance.

Partnering her as Conrad, leader of the pirates, was Vladislav Lantratov who was every bit her equal. Their Act 1, Second Scene pas de deux in the Pirates Den was a tour-de-force.

Nina Kaptsova as Gulnare, and Vitaly Biktimirov as the kidnapper Bribanto, shone with their versatility, while Egor Simachev mined the role of bazaar owner Isaac Lenquedem for maximum comic effect.

Balletomanes were not disappointed with the Act 2 Le Jardin Anime scene set in the Pasha’s Palace. Infamous for having nothing to do with the plot, the garden with its chorus of white tutu’d dancers, baskets of flowers and garlands was an impressive eye-popping tableau with over 50 dancers on stage.

Le Corsaire is not only the largest ballet in the Bolshoi’s repertoire, but the sets are the largest to ever grace the stage of the Lyric Theatre. Designed by Boris Kaminsky, and based on the 1899 originals, the attention to detail and depth achieved in the cloths was magnificent, not to mention the Act 3 shipwreck which was thrilling.

Likewise the costume designs by Yelena Zaytseva, also based on the originals, with their fabrics of gold, turquoise, red and orange, were a feast for the eye.

The 65 piece Queensland Symphony Orchestra under the baton of maestro Pavel Sorokin, played the grab-bag score to perfection.

Le Corsaire is not the world’s greatest ballet, but with its convoluted plot offers copious opportunities for showy dance which the Bolshoi delivered in their big, bravura style. It was great to have them back.

It was the Australian premiere of Le Corsaire in the Bolshoi Ballet’s exclusive Brisbane season.

Peter Pinne