Nina is, of course, the company’s reigning prima ballerina, and she is quite aware of the responsibility. As generous as she is in every performance, she seems to summon up extra reserves of energy and charisma when she performs with her home troupe.

Dancing the opening night Romeo and Juliet (May 30), she transformed herself once more---into an innocent but strong-willed Juliet who was not afraid to defy her family. Partnered by the tall and courtly Andrei Uvarov as Romeo, she put her personal stamp on the role made famous by the ultra-fragile Ulanova. Nina’s Juliet is a friskier sort. At the ball she seemed not at all repulsed by her parents’ choice of a mate---and indeed it would have been hard to find fault with the handsome and accomplished Count Paris of Alexei Barsegyan. But then she meets and falls in love with Romeo... Those who have become accustomed to the overheated lovers of the Macmillan version may find Lavrovsky’s pas de deux a trifle subdued, but there are many of us who prefer this dreamier, more lyrical version of this familiar story. Furthermore, Lavrovsky gives us a more panoramic view of Verona--with a cross section of its populace--which in this version does not simply consist of aristocrats and whores.

The simpler gestures and poses, performed with the Bolshoi dancers’ strong projection, provide more than sufficient drama. Near the end, Juliet’s desperation is telegraphed by her running steps on her way to confer with Friar Laurence; Nina’s traversal of the stage was somehow fleeter and more urgent than many others witnessed in this role. Nikolai Tsiskaridze was the excellent Mercutio, Dmitri Belogolotsev the suave Tibalt. Maria Alexandrova (Juliet’s friend) and Sergei Filin (Troubadour) made for luxury casting in these supporting roles. (Filin danced Romeo later in the run with Inna Petrova; Alexandrova drew raves as Kitri on the Sunday matinee) Denis Medvedev displayed suitably strong technique as the Jester. The opulent sets and costumes provided a worthy setting for these wonderful dancers.

The Bolshoi’s Don Quixote, as recreated by artistic director Alexei Fadeyechev was a riotously colorful triumph of dance. Those who have   not seen this production are missing at least half the fun and spectacle of this ballet. Though maintaining the frame of Cervantes’ story, the Bolshoi dancers throw themselves into a seemingly endless stream of classical and Spanish inspired numbers that simply stun the audience with their verve and passion. It must be seen to be believed and savored. Nina’s Kitri is of course the stuff of legend by now---but those who only concentrate on her masterful delivery of the flashier parts of the choreography should look more closely at her Dulcinea in the "dream scene." The purity, security and elan with which she performs the difficult sequences of steps in this scene is alone worth the price of admission.