NOT: The Marinsky (Kirov) Ballet, Balanchine program, Sadlers Wells

Shani tells me that the only ballet troupe she'd bother seeing (besides the beloved Royal Ballet) are the Russians and the Chinese. Unfortunately I came away feeling disappointed at the performance of the famous Marinsky (previously Kirov) Ballet. The three stilted Balanchine works left me quite unmoved and in fact were faintly ridiculous, especially the histrionics of The Prodigal Son. The only performance I really enjoyed was the modernist Middle Duet, where the precise spearing movements of Ekaterina Kondaurova's windmill legs were the perfect match for the counterpoint notes.