Striking swans in gleaming lake

Alina Cojocaru joined the Royal Ballet in 1999 and people have been waiting to see her dance Swan Lake ever since. The twin roles of Odette and Odile, the snowy swan princess and her black-hearted rival, are the great professional challenge for a ballerina, testing both classical technique and the ability to act. With a great dancer, you get the technical finesse, but you also see past all the tutus and tiaras and into the heart of the story.

Cojocaru's performance last night was an assured debut and one that few will forget. True, her Act III fouettes looked a bit short (I would guess 28 rather than the usual 32) and some of her dancing was cautious, as if she had sore toes. But excepting that, it was an impressive performance. Most striking was her clear drawing of the Odette and Odile characters, the latter a refined, remorseless bitch, the former a gentle princess.

In the so-called white Act II, she subtly rippled her shoulders, part swan, part shivers of fear, and all the more chilling when her sweet face turned deceiver in Act III. Here, Cojocaru played Odile; less sex strumpet (as Odile is often portrayed) and more self-contained manipulator, cooly leading the hapless Prince Siegfried to his wretched betrayal.

Johan Kobborg performed the Siegfried role with finesse and care. His dancing has polish and precision, and it is sincerely felt, but he made less of an impact in this performance than he did in Mayerling last week when he and Cojocaru torched the Opera House stage.

Kobborg's Siegfried had a reserve, meaning your eyes skipped him and followed her instead. However, they'd have to be quick. Under the baton of conductor Charles Barker, the orchestra of the Royal Opera House galloped along, and the dancers galloped after him. Act

III was so fast that Odile, Von Rothbart and their retinue were done and out the door faster than you can say evil magician.

The role of Von Rothbart went to William Tuckett, whose physical stature conveyed the magician's power and menace. Less successful were some of the supporting character roles, with the Prince's tutor making little impression and the Prince's friends entirely unconvincing.

Meanwhile, Yolanda Sonnabend's designs get no easier on the eye, with the colours garish and her Act III palace set more breaker's yard than imperial ballroom.

The Royal Ballet: Swan Lake