The Bright Stream

The second ballet in the Bolshoi Ballet’s exclusive Brisbane Season was the comedic rural romp The Bright Stream. For breathtaking classical dance it was equally as thrilling as Le Corsaire. Set on a collective farm in Stalinist Russia in the thirties, the ballet encompassed a plot of confused identities, cross-dressing, and romanceset to a ravishing score by Shostakovich. It was ballet music written by a master.

Originally created in 1935, the ballet was quickly buried when the composer fell out of favour with Stalin. It remained in obscurity until Alexei Ratmansky reconstructed it and restored it to the Bolshoi repertoire in 2003, and it was Shostakovich’s music and Ratmansky’s choreography that were the bright stars of last night. Funny and alive with invention, Ratmansky’s dance movements whether in a waltz or polka never failed to please with their innovation.

Maria Alexandrova and Nina Kaptsova were perfect ballerinas, whether dancing in unison or with their partners Ruslan Skvortsov and Mikhail Lobukhin. Skvortsov was a force in his solos and especially skilled with Alexandrova when they danced in drag. Anastasia Vinokur mined the role of Anxious-to-be-younger-than-she-is Dacha Dweller for its maximum comic potential, whilst Alexei Loparevich as her husband, the Old Dacha Dweller, made a feast of his height and was all limbs and legs in several amusing sequences.

The sets, mainly a backdrop of corn and farm produce, were colourful, as were the costumes. But biggest bravos go to the 72-piece Queensland Symphony Orchestra, who under Pavel Sorokin’s experienced baton, played Shostakovich’s score magnificently.

Peter Pinne

Images: Principal Dancer Maria Alexandrova & The Bright Stream featuring Principal Dancer Ruslan Skvortsov (wearing tutu), Principal Dancer, Maria Alexandrova (Ballerina) (white dress) and Nina Kaptsova (Zina) (blue flowers in hair). Photographer: Darren Thomas.