This is a fine, predominantly young company, well trained in the Russian tradition. They showed two works, each with some surprises. Swan Lake departs from the Petipa-Ivanov choreography for much of the time, but keeps the iconic passages intact. Von Rothbart appears as a shadowy figure in Act I, magically drawing the Prince to the lakeside. But why? What is his motive? This is never made clear.

In Act II we meet Odette, the Swan Princess, impeccably danced by Maria Kuimova - a true artist who is equally successful in the pyrotechnics of the third act, as well as in the personality change into the seductive Odile. This is a fine performance throughout, which is more than I can say for Arkady Zinov as Siegfried. Act III is stripped down to the national dances and the grand pas de deux. After the opening adagio with Odile, Zinov left the stage, and kept cast, orchestra and audience waiting for two minutes at the very least, before he came back to do his solo.

I asked the company manager afterwards if he had been injured, but no, he does this every time apparently, in order to "get his breath back and give his best". I have never seen any other dancer, in any role, do this; some in the audience were wondering whether there was an interval. If the mediocre performance that followed his unscheduled rest period is his best, one has to ask what he's doing there. Certainly he was constantly upstaged by Ivan Karnaukhov as his friend Benno. Demid Zykhov, a powerful dancer-actor, was a terrific von Rothbart, who, strangely, died in the lake with Siegfried, leaving Odette and her swans stuck forever by the lakeside.

Cinderella brought a complete change of style. It's an adult telling of the tale by choreographer Sergei Bobrov, the man responsible for this company's stunning Romeo and Juliet. It's full of quirky humour and jerky, modern dance movement, which all fits very well with Prokofiev's score - music that never quite works with the cosier traditional productions.

There's a touch of Lewis Carroll and even Matthew Bourne about the whole thing, with the ball danced by ten pairs of identical Tweedle-Dums and Dees. Anna Aulle (pictured) dances beautifully in the title role, though she somehow looks a bit too much the distinguished ballerina to be convincing as Cinders. The two stepsisters are teenage brats from hell, while the versatile Maria Kuimova is very funny and very glamorous as Cinderella's stepmother. Valery Kungurov's jokey costumes are a treat throughout.