Until now my previous experience of live ballet has been watching a small daughter trip round the stage as a flower/leaf/butterfly at her class’ twice-yearly ‘parents performance’.

Her interest didn’t last long, but did leave with a passion for one particular ballet, and when we heard Swan Lake was coming to Bath it was clearly a must-see.

The Moscow City Ballet’s stated aim is to bring the magnificence of classical Russian ballet to the world’s public, so their repertoire includes most of the ballet standards, danced using traditional music and choreography.

Wednesday night’s performance was absolutely superb. Admittedly as a novice I had limited appreciation of the finer pointes (sorry) of the art, despite the helpful programme notes. But the audience was full of balletomanes of all ages (as well as wide-eyed little girls) and a conversation with some in the interval confirmed my impression that this was dance of the highest technical and lyrically interpretive ability.

In a show most famous for its female corps de ballet and a swan queen, it was the male dancers who impressed me most: Valeriy Kravtsov danced the Jester with wit, sparkle and humour; Kanat Nadyrbek was a wonderful Prince Siegfried, devastated by the collapse of his love affair with Odette and with an impressive ‘ballon’ (thank you, programme) in several of his solos while Georgiy Sorokin, danced the evil magician Von Rothbart with real menace, swooping across the stage with breathtaking speed, sending swans skittering away in terror.

While admiring the lyricism of Liliya Orekhova’s Odette/Odile, I found her more convincing as the ‘evil twin’ than the virgin maiden.

A spectacular evening, and I will definitely go again. I understand Romeo and Juliet earlier in the week was equally magnificent: Swan Lake continues until Sunday afternoon.

ALISON PHILLIPS