NINA Leonkina, of the Ukrainian State Ballet, was surely born to dance Giselle.

In Act One, she seems almost too young to be engaged to any man, looking like a naughty child when her mother catches her dancing against orders. Her frail appearance lends complete plausibility to her collapse and her eyes in the mad scene haunt you - as they are bound to haunt the two men in her life.

In Act Two, she is so light and insubstantial that, though you know Vadim Kurgaev as her Albrecht is lifting her, it really appears that he is attempting to grasp her ghostly form as she floats above his head. A superb dancer with wonderful arms and shoulders, her exceptional control produced an arabesque which seemed to materialise almost imperceptibly.

This production is ideal for anyone unfamiliar with the plot for no other I have seen makes every detail so crystal clear. A flash of lightning even explains the sudden disappearance of the Duke and his daughter into Giselle's cottage, something which has always appeared unlikely, and Oleg Grachev's Hilarion (here called Hans) is clearly a popular village lad as well as a jealous gamekeeper. The dancing throughout is excellent, with a fine Act One Pas de Deux from Elena Belenko and Evgeny Serdeshnov, who has an interesting coda added to his solo.

Tatyana Omelchenko is a compelling Myrtha, while proof of the company's standards can be seen with one glance at thee corps in Act Two.

The touring set is basic and the lighting showed signs of lack of time but this is a small price to pay for seeing a first class company in an intimate theatre. Congratulations to artistic director Alexander Sokolov and thanks to sponsor Michael Considine. If Nutcracker tonight is as good, we are in for a treat.