THEATRE REVIEW: Swan Lake (The Russian State Ballet of Siberia) - at the Festival Theatre, Malvern, on Wednesday, February 10, 2016.

THIS was a beautiful performance that captivated a full house.

It’s a well known story of a prince, Siegfried, who is told by his mother the Queen that it is time to find a wife. The day before he is to be introduced to suitable candidates he falls for a swan queen, Odette, who has been cursed to live in her present form.

When the day of choice comes he refuses all his suitors until a surprise late entrant joins the race. She, Odile, is the baddie put forward by the evil Baron Rothbart, but her similarity to Odette seduces the prince.

Only at the end does Siegfried see the error of his ways. He fights the evil baron and in dying he releases Odette from her curse.

There were a number of enjoyable performances by the principal dancers and an excellent evening from Ekaterina Bulgutova - who played both Odette and Odile, with nifty costume changes as she moved from one character to another.

As usual, Tchaikovsky’s music once again proved to be a pleasure.

There was one small distraction for me, having hints of a philistine tucked away somewhere, I remember very well Morecambe and Wise doing a version of the dance of the cygnets. Once seen it's difficult to see the real thing without recalling the comedy version.

Despite this it was a great evening - and the extra good news is that no swans were harmed in the making of this ballet.

Steve Birch