The Jester is the life and soul of the party

The fairy-tale plot is simple. And unmarried prince falls for an enchanted maiden and frees her when the wicked magician of the lake gets too sure of himself.

With the Stanislavsky Ballet, it becomes the peg for a celebration of adolescence and young love.

Prince Siegfried is shown here as a petulant teenager, set on moping despite the best efforts of his Jester, who regularly steals the show with spring-heeled antics.

Rothbart, the magician of the lake, is wicked in every sense, bursting into the ballroom with his minions in Act III to hustle the innocent prince with temptations - something between a showman and a pimp extraordinaire.

Stanislavsky star Natalia Krapivina is also dancing the role of Odette/Odile in London

Surprising Rothbart

The gilded ballroom glows infernally like a red light district, with the Spanish dance a revelation in its erotic intensity.

This Rothbart may surprise some but he is counterpointed by the perfection of the seemingly weightless soloist, Tchernobrovkina, in the twin role of Odette/Odile and the corps de ballet - not a trembling leg among them.

The choice of colour in the intricate costumes is the stuff of dreams and Vladimir Arefyev's sets illustrate the story perfectly.

They switch from the rich warmth of the palace to the cold, pale world of the wizard's lake.

Iron curtains

Tchaikovsky's music, melody over driving melody, is a sea of household tunes used and abused by advertisers for years.

Cast on first night

Odette/Odile: Tatiana Tchernobrovkina Prince Siegfried: Georgy Smilevski Rothbart: Vladimir Kirillov Jester: Vitaly Breusenko

But here you hear the music as it was intended, young again in the arms of conductors like Georgy Zhemchuzhin on the first night.

Mr Zhemchuzhin actually saved the ballet at one point when a curtain bunched up centre-stage.

He subtly slowed the tempo to allow the dancers to keep face as a stagehand walked the curtain into the wing in a moment of pure Monty Python.

Swan Lake continues at the Royal Festival Hall, London, until 12 January.