Britain's sophisticated ballet-goers saw time-tested masterpieces-Ludwig Minkus' "Don Quixote", an Alexei Fadeichev production, and Yuri Grigorovich's endeavours: Tchaikovsky's "The Swan Lake" and Aram Khachaturyan's "Spartacus". There was also Sergei Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet", a trailblazing joint effort of British stage director Declan Donnelan and Moldovan choreographer Radu Poclitaru.
The performances involved more than 220 Bolshoi dancers and orchestra musicians.
Daring in its minimalism, "Romeo and Juliet" made reviewers break lances. Thus, The Independent and The Financial Times offered it a very sceptical coverage.
"The opinions of conservative reviewers and the public of avant-garde tastes were clashing over that particular production. Ballet-goers liked it more than all the other ballets we were offering. We owed all grudges against us to totally unconventional dancing, which broke the Bolshoi's classical traditions. We did it on purpose-to show the company in its progress," Anatoli Iksanov, Bolshoi Director General, said to Novosti.
He sees another reason to the dislike-a modernist treatment of Shakespeare's renowned tragedy. "We Russians don't conceal jealousy, either, when foreign directors or ballet-masters are taking liberties with Chekhov, Gogol, Ostrovsky or any other Russian classic," remarked Mr. Iksanov.
Victor Hochhauser Co., which arranged the summer performances, was the first to offer Londoners a Bolshoi ballet forty years ago. It also organised the latest previous big presence of Moscow dancing stars in London, 1999.
