Performer: Boris Gruzin

This wonderful ballet has never looked better at The Royal, especially in the remarkable performance of Natalia Osipova.

This Swan Lake is a continued homage to classical female beauty and awe-inspiring dancing. The swans' collective mourning at Siegfried’s betrayal and its consequences are palpable.

With all the right ingredients – acte blanc, love intrigue, dramatic death – La Bayadère is a classic Russian ballet.

A performance that led to the making of a new piece of history. Xander Parish made a Mariinsky Principal after a sublime performance of Swan Lake. 

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

If there is only one Nutcracker with which to herald the Christmas season, let it always be this one.