Performer: Natalia Goncharova

While National Ballet of Japan’s latest triple bill presents many challenges, one hopes these valuable masterpieces will be revived, enabling the company to develop its virtuosity and artistry.

A diverse triple bill, both musically and choreographically, this has been a gamble that's paid off.

It was like going on the journey from Kansas to the Land of Oz. After dank, dark drizzle on the streets outside, the scene inside the London Coliseum suddenly transformed into dazzling and vivid colour for this famous fairy-tale by Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. 

On one level, Le Coq d’Or, Rimsky-Korsakov’s final opera, is a simple fairy tale. However, you don’t need to dig far to discover a biting satire, which was largely absent in this presentation by Les Saisons Russes du XXI Siècle.