The Kirov

The Kirov Ballet of St. Petersburg was in Berkeley this weekend for four performances of Sleeping Beauty. They brought their orchestra as well. Some children's parts were performed by a students of a local ballet school.

The the San Francisco Russian community was out in force and the Russian language was heard from all sides during intermission. The audience was peppered with young girls dressed in frilly white gowns attended by doting mothers or grandparents.

We were entranced. This was a 1950 era production that fit the stage of Zellerbach Hall better than their current production. I think we were blessed by that. The corps de ballet and the female dancers were en point most of the time. (No "modern dance".) The orchestra was wonderful. The orchestral soloists were sublime. Tchaikovky's familiar score sounded fresh, with nuances not noticed before. It is hard to imagine that any company other than the Kirov or the Bolshoi could pull this off.

Life does not get any better than this.