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With Contrasts, the Mariinsky dancers are put under a multifaceted microscope. 

How does one condense a Tolstoy epic for the stage? In Anna Karenina, choreographer Alexei Ratmansky focuses on the three central characters, filleting the novel to its bare essentials. 

The fireworks – when they came – were explosive, Viktoria Tereshkina and Kimin Kim igniting the Royal Opera House stage in a frenzy of effervescent footwork.

Ratmansky's Concerto DSCH proves the perfect show opener, before the Mariinsky Ballet reclaims Sasha Waltz's Sacre.

Mixed feelings form the Mariinsky Ballet's first performance of Raymonda in Washington. A shortfall in story-telling and emotional communication despite the polished dancing. 

Towering architectural sets, expansive multifaceted dancing, and an detailed playing from an exceptional orchestra deliver an emotional performance in Alexei Ratmansky's Russian adaptation of Prokofiev's Cinderella for Mariinsky Ballet.  

Angelin Preljocaj's sublime Le Parc is performed again by the Mariinsky Theatre, with Diana Vishneva leading the company in this ode to love.

The Mariinsky Theatre's Swan Lake is both entertaining and refreshing to watch . Reviewed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York.

It was clever programming to bookend the Mariinsky’s three-week London residency with two Prokofiev full-length ballets – starting with its classic, but dated, 1940 Romeo and Juliet, and ending with the contemporary chic of Alexei Ratmansky’s Cinderella.

Alexei Ratmanksy's Concerto DSCH is the highlight of a meaty programme, also featuring Fokine's 1910 Firebird and Ashton's Marguerite and Armand

The Mariinsky Ballet strike a unique balance between technique, dramatic dancing and emotional power.