Terry Hoyland

Go to new Moscow-based website http://balletbase.com/en/ for article on Pashkova/Vsevolozhsky/Petipa Libretto of Raymonda. Also video clips of Esmeralda, Serenade plus interviews with Lopatkina, Alexandrova and Vikharev.

Makarova first danced with Nureyev at the London Palladium in a televised Sunday evening performance shortly after she defected in 1970. Terry

With Fonteyn officially Guest Artist, Svetlana Beriosova was the Empress of the Royal Ballet and Antoinette Sibley the Crown Princess. Beriosova was truly imperial - the last in the line of the majestic Ballet Russes style dancers of the old tradition. She was magnificent in everything she did, but my most enduring memory of her is the moment of wide-eyed wonderment when, as Cinderella, she found the glass slipper in her ragged skirt in the kitchen scene after the ball. No one else ever captured this magic moment as movingly. Persephone, Les Biches, Lady Elgar and Lady and the Fool were other roles in which she was magical. Terry

Long term - the Sibley and Dowell partnership was pure magic. Seasonal partnerships: Terekhova and Yuri Posokhov made a dream team. Zelensky and Lopatkina - but Zelensky presents his ballerinas so beautifully that he makes every partnership look great. Terry

Antoinette Sibley and Tatiana Terekhova had the smoothest bourees. Richard Buckle described Sibley's as a string of matchless pearls. See Terekova's Queen of the Wilis and Sibley's Ballroom Scene entrance in Ashton's Cinderella. Terry

Yuri Vladimirov began to emerge at the Bolshoi in the 1960s. London first saw him at the Bolshoi's six week Royal Festival Hall season in 1965 when he created a sensation as a soloist in 'School of Ballet' with daredevil leaps, and in 'Flames of Paris' pas de deux with his wife, ballerina Nina Sorokina. He also created the role of leading shepherd in Grigorovitch's Spartacus - the one who does the thrilling high double leg kicks - and repeated this at all five of the first London performances of Spartak. He can be seen in this role in the film (now on DVD) starring Vasiliev. Terry

MacMillan created Manon for Antoinette Sibley and she remains the best of them all, both dramatically and dancewise. Terry

Marga - thanks for pointing that Zaklinsky and Zelensky had already been mentioned. In fact, the handsomest male dancer I have ever seen was Konstantin Zaklinksy's uncle, Alexei Zakalinksy (slightly different name spelling for the Moscow branch of the family) a Bolshoi soloist of the mid-1960s. I was at the Moscow repeat of the Vaganova Academy's Graduation Performance the year Konstantin Zaklinsky debuted in a ballet to Glazunov's 'The Seasons'. Alexei Zakalinsky and his wife Svetlana Adyrkheva (Bolshoi principal dancer) were sitting front row centre. When I asked him if he was related to Konstantin Zaklinsky he said proudly "He's my nephew". In contrast to Konstantin's dark good looks , Alexei was a stunning blue-eyed blonde. His big number was a divert pas de trois 'The Ocean and the Pearls' which he danced with Natalia Taborko and Natalia Ryzhenko wearing 'Spring Waters' type costumes. Anyone else remember him from those far off golden days? Terry

Am astonished no one has mentiond Igor Zelensky and Konstantin Zaklinsky - both are very good looking hunks The young Anthony Dowell was the most beautiful danced ever. More recently the Kirov's Victor Baranov rates the most beautiful. Jorge Donne was probably the sexiest ever. Karl Musil of Vienna Opera Ballet was also a stunner. Terry