The joy of the Bolshoi

A new swathe of Russians has hit town – dancing ones this time. The Bolshoi Ballet opened in swaggering style last night at the Coliseum with the full three-act version of Le Corsaire. Even paid-up balletomanes have often only seen the bravura duet from Act One. The whole thing was gloriously, unabashedly old-fashioned. The plot is negligible, everyone had at least four costume changes – the heroine sported a dazzling series of little hats, each one cocked at a fetchingly oriental angle – and a rousing finale was reached at 5 to 11 with a cracking thunderstorm and a shipwreck from which hero and heroine managed to extricate themselves with exquisite grace, landing on a rocky foreshore with their finery untouched by the elements.

Bliss. And some fabulous dancing thrown in for good measure.