Outside Russia, most ballet buffs agree that the Bolshoi dance company is the Soviet's best. But in London last week, audiences had a rare chance to consider a rival. The Kirov Ballet of Leningrad, which somewhat obscurely traces its descent to the establishment of the Imperial Academy of Dancing in St. Petersburg in 1738, came to town on its first Western tour and gave a generous demonstration of what it thinks the classical ballet is all about.
The Kirov style is soft, lyrical, and generally more elegant than the intense manner of the Bolshoi. The result, in the Kirov's production...
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