London Weekend with The Mikhailovsky Ballet

Last weekend I spent in London watching my most favourite ballet of all Don Quixote and not only that 2 of the 3 performances were performed by the world's best Kitri and Basilio - Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev!  DonQ is rarely performed in the UK so when it is on I have to go see them all if I possibly can, although the Royal Ballet are doing a new production in the Autumn so I will be in 7th heaven!  The Mihailovsky Ballet comes from St Petersburg in Russia and whilst this was only their 3rd trip to the UK I really like them and hope they come again.

I started the weekend with Giselle and very lovely it was too...

Man and wife team 
Oleysia Novikova & Leonid Sarafanov

Friday's Giselle - it was lovely.

Saturday's DonQ here the Don and 
Sancho Pancha take a bow

Stars of the show 
Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev

I was very lucky to get such good curtain 
call pics and to meet Natalia 
and Ivan afterwards at the Stage Door!  

The little ballerina statue in Covent Garden.

I really like this sculpture.  
There is something restful about it.

The plaque.

At the Don Q Sunday matinee - 
Ekaterina Borchenko as Queen of the Dryads

Oksana Bondareva and Denis Matvienko 
were the stars.  Love the dress!

Vladimir Tsal is the matador for the Fandango.

How elegant Oksana looks standing en pointe 
for the curtain calls!  She was an elegant dancer.

Here with conductor Pavel Bubelnikov.

Oksana and Denis again.  Lovely tutu!

Whose ears are these?!!

Why Jimmy the Donkey who was Sancho Pancha's 
mount in the ballet!  He was SO cute!  He had to 
wait in his box for the evening performance which 
is how I came to see him - it certainly had passersby
wondering what on earth was a donkey doing in 
the middle of theatreland LOL!

The final performance on Sunday night - 
here Irina Kosheleva as Queen of the Dryads.

Natalia and Ivan as the stars again.

They are a very popular couple - and 
are engaged in real life too!

A last farewell.  Come back soon!